Cassie Gilbert
by Blue-Eyed AngelGirl
Summary: What if Elena had a twin sister? Would TVD be different? This is Cassie's side of the story.
1. Pilot Part 1

**Author's Note: Ok, so I'm on a plane right now, and I' D. My brother has managed to fall asleep and I just can't do it. So I decided to write a little something.**

_What if Elena had a twin sister?_

_Would Stelena/Delena occur?_

**Cassie Gilbert**

**Chapter 01 - Pilot Part 1**

_Cassie's P.O.V_

"Cassie! Come on, get up!" The sound of my twin's voice reached my ears and I groaned and rolled over in my bed, the crisp sheets rustling. Quickened footsteps came into my room and someone burst in, "Cassie! Get up, come on. Bonnie's picking us up in an hour, it's our first day back."

"School, huh? I think I'll pass on that one, Elena." I pulled the duvet over my head but suddenly the whole sheet had been ripped from my grip, I shivered at the sudden coldness and I opened my eyes angrily. "What are you doing, twin?" I demanded angrily.

"Come on, I'm not arguing with you. Get up, otherwise you'll be late." Elena looked unfazed at my angry protests, she walked out of my room and I sighed and slowly got up, trudging towards the adjourning bathroom. I gazed at my reflection in the mirror, a 17 year old girl with olive skin and dark brown eyes looked back at me. Sighing I picked up my hairbrush and started brushing my wavy hair: it was the only difference between me and my twin, Elena, whilst her hair was straight, mine rolled in light waves off of my shoulders. After brushing my teeth and hair I applied some light makeup, taking one last look at my face, just to make sure I looked as good as I thought I did. I wasn't disappointed. I walked straight over to my wardrobe and started pulling out clothes, narrowing my eyes as I scanned over the skirts and dresses. I wasn't known to be the modest twin, but I guess I like the attention. I settled for a dark red short skirt and a white silk top, I layed them out on my bed and began to undress out of my pyjamas. When I was in my black underwear I had the feeling like someone was watching me, on instinct I turned to my windows and saw a crow sat on the tree outside my house, the bird's gleaming eyes were boring into mine. I shuddered to myself and closed the curtains quickly. I came downstairs to see the kitchen was empty, my aunt Jenna had most likely gone to campus and Elena had decided to leave.

"Great. Just great." I muttered to myself and looked at my car keys on the counter, my hand reached towards them but pulled back at the last moment. I couldn't face driving a car yet, I hadn't been behind the wheel of a car since the accident before summer break, my parent's car had gone off the bridge with me and my twin in it, along with our parents. Whilst my parents had died, Elena and I had mysteriously survived, everyone around town had said it was a miracle. My school bag was next to the door in the hallway and I picked it up before walking out the door, retrieving the key from under the garden pot and locking it before setting in the direction of Mystic Falls High, the school where I attended, when I was in the mood to of course. Whilst I was walking in town I heard a distinct noise of a crow cawing, I looked behind me with confused eyes, trying to pinpoint the sound. When I looked back the dark bird was sat on a signpost, it cawed at me and didn't take it's gleaming eyes off me, I shuddered and quickened my pace. I sighed almost in relief when I reached the school, teenagers were talking in groups outside of the building, near the parking lot I glimpsed a few of the stoner kids leaning against a wall holding cigarettes. I frowned in disgust and turned away, only to be enveloped in a tight hug.

"Oh my God you're here! I thought you wouldn't show..." I rolled my eyes and gently pried myself from Caroline's grip.

"Yeah I showed, couldn't let Mr Tanner lecture someone else about uniform." I smirked and she giggled, I looked over her shoulder and saw my twin looking at my outfit with a disproving look, she caught my gaze and I winked and blew her a kiss. I laughed when she turned away and stormed into the building, Bonnie close behind her. "Some things never change." I sighed mockingly and started towards the school, Caroline was trying to keep up with my quick strides and was babbling to me about the bonfire night tonight. When I entered the school I saw Elena storming into the men's bathroom, I followed and quietly stepped in after her, leaving Caroline next to the lockers.

"You haven't seen crazy, Jeremy! I gave you a summer pass, but I am done watching you destroy yourself. No, no, no, you know what? Go ahead. Keep it up. But just know that I am going to be there to ruin your buzz every time, you got it? Jeremy, I know who you are. And it's not this person. So don't be this person." I heard my twin's judgmental voice echo around the bathroom and I quickly stepped into the view of my younger brother Jeremy looking bored and edgy with Elena looking at him sadly.

"Hey, hey! So this is where the party's at!" I throw my hands out and step towards them, my heeled pumps clacking against the hard floor, Jeremy sniggered at me and my twin did another one of her disapproving looks.

"Oh grow up, Cassie. Jeremy's high and it's not even first lesson yet!" She accusingly pointed at our little brother, I fought a smile from my face and looked evenly at my mirror image.

"Geez, Elena calm down. He's just going through a phase, he's gonna look back at these years and think how stupid he was for doing drugs. He needs to figure it out on his own." I defended Jeremy, Elena shook her head and scoffed.

"Did you seriously just say that? Jeremy needs our help, Cassie! Why can't you see that!" Elena shouted, Jeremy put his hands over his ears.

"I don't need this. Why can't you be more like Cassie, Elena? She's cool and you're well... Not cool." Jeremy told us before storming out of the bathroom, Elena sighed and glared daggers at me.

"This is your fault. You encourage him, Cassie. Can't you see that he's not dealing with this properly?"

"And can't you see that you're not dealing with him properly?" I shot back and stalked away from her.

"Go home and put some clothes on, you look like you're going clubbing!" Elena called out to me, I scoffed and flicked her off before walking out of the bathroom, my dramatic exit was cut short though, I ran straight into...

"Uh, pardon me. Um...is this the men's room?" A tall boy stood in front of me, he had dark hair and green eyes and was nice to look at.

"Well, yeah. But it's not like that! I had my brother, and he uhhh..." I stumbled as I tried to find an excuse that didn't include the fact that my brother was doing drugs, behind me the bathroom door opened and my twin slammed straight into the guys' chest, doing exactly what I did.

"Oh!" She exclaimed and looked up at the guy, she sent me a sideways glance and grabbed my hand. "Excuse me." She told the boy, he was looking shocked and his gaze switched between us. The new guy wasn't having a good encounter with twins... Elena and I moved to the left, but so did the boy. Awkward! He turned and let us pass, Elena shot him a friendly glance and I rolled my eyes at him and we walked off, I checked my new timetable and groaned; History was first lesson with Mr Tanner. Great.

"Once our home state of Virginia joined confederacy in 1861, it created a tremendous amount of tension within the state. People in Virginia's northwest region had different ideals than those from the traditional deep south. Then Virginia divided in 1863 with the northwest region joining the union..." I blocked out the lecture from Mr Tanner by slipping in an earphone and looking around the room, I was sat at the very back of the room, Matt Donovan was on my left and another jock on my right. Elena's friend Bonnie was in front of me and Elena herself was in the middle row, then new guy we had bumped into earlier was also in our class, more than once I caught him looking at me, normally I shrugged off a guy looking at me. But this guy had an intense gaze, my eyes wandered to my twin in the middle row, I expected her to be looking at Mr Tanner but she was looking at someone else entirely, I could guess who it was. In front of me I saw Bonnie tapping into her phone, I read the text quickly: 'HAWT-E. STARING U.' I scoffed and rolled my eyes at the message and heard a painful sharp intake of breath to my right, I looked over to see a look of pain on Matt's face. I patted his shoulder sympathetically before reaching down and changing the song on my phone, waiting for the lesson to be over.

I was sat at a table in The Grill with Matt and Tyler Lockwood, Tyler used to be ok, we used to date but then we broke up and he kind of became a...dick. Matt used to date my twin but then she broke his heart, he still hadn't moved on and was hurting. Matt's sister Vicki came over with a jug of water and refilled my glass. "Thanks, Vick." He looked at her appreciatively, I nodded and tipped my glass in thanks to her before she grinned and turned to Tyler.

"Do you need another refill?" She asked him with wide eyes and pouty lips, Tyler smirked and nodded.

"I'd love one." He brushed her hand and she giggled and nodded before walking off. I looked between the two boys and saw Matt giving an annoyed glance to Tyler.

"Please tell me you're not hooking up with my sister." He groaned.

"I'm not hooking up with your sister." Tyler smiled, showing teeth and I sighed.

"Stop being such a dick, Ty, seriously not cool." I told him but he simply shrugged.

"Whatever, Cas." He shot back, I shook my head and finished the glass of water, setting it down and looking up to see Caroline and Bonnie enter the room.

"His name is Stefan Salvatore. He lives with uncle up at the old Salvatore boarding house. He hasn't lived here since he was a kid. Military family, so they moved around a lot. He's a Gemini, and his favorite color is blue." I heard Caroline explain to Bonnie, I narrowed my eyes and thought back to the strange new kid today in History.

"You got all that in one day?" Bonnie asked the blonde with an amazed look.

"Oh please, I got all that between third and fourth period. We're planning a June wedding." Caroline replied and I couldn't help but snigger.

"How's Elena doing?" Matt's question snapped me back into reality, I couldn't help but be a little hurt: it's not like my parents died too!

"Are you serious? Our mum and dad died, how do you think we're doing?" I snapped at him and gave him my 'mean girl' look.

"Ok ok, God you're mean...has she said anything about me?" Matt asked, I looked at him for a long time, carefully choosing my words.

"Well, Matty. If you pick up the phone and call her, you might get an answer." I slid my phone across the table towards him, Matt looked at it before shaking his head.

"I feel weird calling her, she broke up with me." Matt explained sheepishly, Tyler snatched up my phone.

"Don't call her, go out with another girl. Trust me, as soon as you start banging someone else, you'll forget all about Elena Gilbert." Tyler winked at me and I hit his shoulder.

"You're such a twat! Good to know your method of how you got over me, Tyler." I stalked away, but Matt followed me.

"Don't listen to him, Cas. Trust me, after you broke up with him it took him weeks before he could even speak to another girl." Matt told me in a low voice, I smiled at Matt and touched his arm lightly.

"Thanks, Matt."

"Anytime, but seriously, what should I do with Elena?" Matt pressed, I sighed and shrugged.

"Well, knowing my sister she'll probably need time, so just give her some breathing room." I told him, my twin seemed to have the ability of the worst timing ever because as I said this she walked in with the new kid. Stefan Salvatore.

"More time, huh?" Matt scoffed and walked past me and over to them. I shrugged and lost interest, making my way over to Caroline and Bonnie.

"That looked messy." Caroline told me as I took my seat at their table.

"Tell me about it, Elena has the worst timing ever." I groaned and hit my palm on my forehead.

"Don't worry about it, I have plans for me and Stefan." Caroline told me and Bonnie, Bonnie shook her head and I smirked.

"Really Caroline?" Bonnie questioned the blonde.

"What? Elena doesn't have any claim yet, I want him." Caroline threw her hands up in protest. "Shh they're coming over. Not a word." Caroline directed the order to me, I raised an eyebrow, combing my wavy dark hair through my fingers.

"Hey guys," Elena greeted us warmly, Stefan was standing behind her. His green eyes surveyed the table, last of all they landed on me. He looked away immediately and I shrugged, weird kid. "This is Stefan Salvatore, I thought I might introduce you all. Ok so this is Bonnie, that's Caroline, and this-."

"I'm Cassie, Elena's twin." I smoothly interrupted my twin, she frowned and I smiled, out of the corner of my eye Bonnie and Caroline exchanged a glance. "I'll go get us some drinks."

"I'll help." Elena offered and I shook my head.

"No! You don't have t-."

"I insist." Elena all but dragged me over to the bar. "Right," She said, turning to me, "Why are you being like this?" She asked, I decided to play dumb.

"What are you talking about?" I asked her, making a show of tilting my head confusedly.

"Don't play that card, Cassie. You're against me all the time, I haven't even done anything to hurt you!" She said exasperatedly.

don't know what you're talking about." I said nonchalantly, grabbing three glasses of drink.

"Oh yes you do, just now you interrupted me, and earlier in the bathroom with Jeremy! You completely took his side! When, Cassie? When are you gonna grow up and start acting your age?" She snatched up the last two glasses and walked back to the table, the barmen was looking at me with a shocked look.

"Wow, that was heated..." The barmen said, I shrugged and nodded. "You want something stronger than diet coke, sweetie?" He asked, gesturing to the gleaming rows of alcohol.

"Yes please!" I acted out a fake giggle and a nod, he smiled and poured me a shot glass. "Thanks." I told him and did the shot, the alcohol burned my throat but I did feel better. I took the glasses back to the table and handed them out to Bonnie and Caroline.

"So, you were born in Mystic Falls?" Caroline was playing twenty questions on Stefan, I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my drink.

"Mm-hmm, and moved when I was still young." Stefan nodded, I looked at him for a moment: surely we would have heard of any other Salvatores in town? Our parents would have mentioned...

"Parents?" The blonde pressed, leaning forward with a glint in her blue eyes.

"My parents passed away." Stefan told her, I was shocked to see this and looked over to him, my twin was doing the same.

"I'm sorry. Any siblings?" Elena took over Caroline's control of the conversation, I cast a glance at the girl and saw a look of annoyance on her face at my twin.

"None that I talk to, I live with my uncle."

"So, Stefan, if you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow." Caroline swooped in and took hold of the question game again, Bonnie shook her head and I had to stifle a laugh.

"It's a back to school thing at the falls." Bonnie explained to the boy, Stefan nodded and turned to Elena.

"Are you going?" He asked her, Elena looked shocked at the sudden question, Caroline looked furious.

"Of course she is." Bonnie answered for her.

"Don't get your hopes up Stefan, Elena isn't that fun anymore. I mean, ever since her and Cassie's parents died she went all mature on us." Caroline told the table, I glared at the girl.

"Wow, Caroline. How insensitive are you? So what if Elena has matured more, you act like a four year old half the time anyway. I'm outta here." I put my drink down with a heavy thud and walked out of the bar.

**Author's Note: End of part 1, I've decided to do ****each chapter in parts for this one, comment your thoughts on this one!**


	2. Pilot Part 2

**_Cassie Gilbert_**

**_Chapter 02 - Pilot Part 2_**

_The next day - History Class (Cassie's P.O.V)_

"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls. How many casualties resulted in this battle? Ms. Bennett?" Mr Tanner's voice lazily drifted to my ear without the earphone in, I slowly turned my head back to the class.

"Umm..a lot? I'm not sure. Like a whole lot." Bonnie stuttered, I grinned at the answer, looking around the room I saw the same look on people's faces.

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett. Mr. Donovan? Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?" Mr Tanner's gaze raked over the class, everyone stayed quiet and avoided eye contact with the teacher, silently hoping they wouldn't get picked.

"It's ok, Mr Tanner. I'm cool with it." Matt gave a goofy grin and the whole class erupted into laughter.

"Ms. Gilbert-."

"Yeah?" Elena and I looked up with wide eyes, Mr Tanner had a mean look in his eyes as he picked on one of us.

"Cassie, I'm sure you can tell us how many casualties there were?" Mr Tanner locked eyes with me, I held his gaze evenly before replying.

"To be honest, William, I'm surprised you think that one of us here would even know that. I mean, come on, until today I didn't even know there was a battle of Willow Creek." I finished with a smug smile and the class erupted into hushed conversation, Mr Tanner had a look of fury on his face.

"To be honest, Cassandra, I'm surprised you think that I haven't seen that earphone in your ear yet, and we both know that dress isn't suitable for school. And for one thing-."

"There were 346 casualties. Unless you're counting local civilians." A voice piped up from the class, I drew my gaze from Mr Tanner to look at Stefan, he was sat looking at the teacher but I had a feeling he knew I was watching him.

"Well, uh... Yeah, that's correct. Mr ummm..?" Mr Tanner, much to my satisfaction, spluttered in disbelief.

"Salvatore."

"Salvatore. Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?" No one could believe it - Mr Tanner actually looked interested in one of his students.

"Distant." Stefan replied with a one word answer, I guess he just didn't want to be made out as the goody-goody of the class.

"Well, very good. Except, of course there were no civilian casualties in this battle." Mr Tanner turned his attention back to the bored class.

"Actually, there were 27, sir. Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss. The founder's archives are, uh, stored in civil hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts. Mr Tanner." Stefan spoke up, I couldn't believe it: Mr Tanner had just been owned by one of the students, the class stayed deadly silent.

"Stefan, you're my hero!" I got up and walked over to his desk and held up my hand in a high five, he slapped it and I gave him a wry grin.

"Right that's it, Cassandra Gilbert, you're staying behind. Everyone else, get out of my room, class dismissed." Mr Tanner ordered, a few people sent me sympathetic looks, Elena shook her head and Stefan gave me a small smile before leaving the class. I walked up to the front desk where Mr Tanner was sat. "You," He started when I reached the front, "Are probably one of the worst students I've ever had to teach! What is wrong with you, Ms Gilbert? I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, but the excuses ended for summer break last year. Now, tomorrow I want you to turn up to my lessons on time, respectable clothes on and if I see you listening to music instead of paying attention, so help me God I will-."

"Ok I got it, Mr Tanner." I sighed and walked out of the room, Stefan and Elena were waiting for me out in the hallway.

"Everything ok?" Elena asked me, I nodded to her, flipping my hair over my shoulder.

"We need to go home and get ready for tonight, meet us there?" I asked Stefan warmly, I guess I should be nice seeing as he stuck up for me in History.

"Uhhh, yeah ok. I'll see you both later." Stefan told us and walked down the hall, me and Elena started off in the other direction.

"Hey, can I borrow one of your skirts?" Elena's head popped around my door, I was running a comb through my damp hair.

"Sure."

"Thanks, Cas."

"Anytime, twin. So, you and Stefan huh?" I winked at her, she blushed and I couldn't help but snigger at her prudishness.

"We're not together," She defended hastily, "I just... I don't know what we are." She opened my wardrobe and started rifling through my clothes.

"Well you better make it something, because I know a certain Caroline is gonna make a move." I warned her, Elena made a face and pulled out a dark emerald skirt - my longest one I had.

"If Caroline and Stefan become an item, I'll be happy for them both." Elena told me, I shrugged and threw down the comb.

"Just warning you, Elena." I stated and grabbed my makeup bag and walked out into the bathroom. "I'll be ready in ten minutes." I told her before closing the door.

"Just admit it Elena." Bonnie tapped Elena's arm, the three of us were stood amongst the throng of drunken teenagers.

"Oh, ok. So... He's a little pretty." Elena admitted to us quietly, I nudged her and gave her a cheeky wink.

"He has that brooding romance stare." Bonnie joked and I burst out laughing, even Elena cracked a grin.

"So where is he?" Bonnie asked after her giggling had died down.

"I don't know you tell me, you're the psychic one." Elena replied, I was confused.

"What?" I laughed and looked at the two girls weirdly.

"Oh, ummm, Grams is telling me I'm psychic. Our ancestors were from Salem, witches and all that, I know, crazy, but she's going on and on about it and I'm starting to believe it." Bonnie explained.

"You're as crazy as your Grams!" I exclaimed and cast the empty beer bottle aside.

"Whatever, Cassie. Your just jealous there's nothing special about you." Bonnie told me, I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh believe me, she's special alright." Elena piped up, I hit her lightly.

"Hang on, Grams says I need to concentrate." Bonnie closed her eyes, a smile tugging the corners of her month.

"Wait! You need a crystal ball!" Elena looked around and picked up the beer bottle I had thrown down earlier. She gave Bonnie the bottle, as soon as Bonnie touched her hand she gasped and withdrew it back, her eyes blank.

"What?" Elena asked in a serious tone, I saw Bonnie look really confused as she blinked back into her senses.

"That was weird. When I touched you I saw a crow." Bonnie looked a little worried, I snapped my head up at the mention of the crow.

"A crow?" I echoed, the image of the huge black bird with shining eyes appeared in my head.

"A crow," Bonnie confirmed, "There was fog, a man. I'm drunk. It's the drinking. There's nothing psychic about it. Yeah? Ok, I'm gonna get a refill." Bonnie walked off, leaving me and Elena speechless.

"Bonnie? Where are you going?" I called out to her retreating figure. I sighed and turned to my sister, she shrugged and we both turned and gasped. Stefan stood there, how we hadn't heard him I had no idea.

"Hi." Elena greeted the new guy.

"Hi." Stefan said after a moment.

"Soo...is that Matt and Tyler? I'm just gonna go." I told them awkwardly before wondering off to where the two boys were. "Hey, guys!" I greeted them cheerily, Matt and Tyler looked at me suspiciously.

"Are you drunk?" Matt asked me, I frowned at them both.

"No, I'm not actually! I'm quite offended that you'd think that!" I protested.

"No, you can't talk to me unless your drunk, Cas." Tyler handed me a bottle, I sniggered and drank it, Matt rolled his eyes at me and shook his head.

"This is definitely not gonna go down well, guys." Matt promised the two of us.

"Oh nonsense, Matthew. On the contrary, it's gonna go great." I waved my arms out wide in emphasis and stumbled a little in the process, I fell into Tyler's chest and couldn't stop giggling.

"Come on, let's get outta here." Tyler grabbed my hand and led me out into the woods, away from the party. I followed suit, tripping over a few logs and bracken but clinging onto Tylers arm so I didn't fall.

"I've missed this." Tyler sighed and stroked my face.

"Yeah, well I'm sorry I broke your heart, when my parents died...everything just felt different." I admitted, looking up at his face.

"But I'm sure you won't mind me doing this," He planted a kiss on my neck, "And this," he slowly moved up my neck and under my jaw, "And this." Tyler finally ended with his lips on mine, I kissed him back and we slowly backed up until my back hit a tree, his hands started roaming my body and I knew what he wanted.

"No Ty, I'm not having sex against a tree." I broke off the kiss and looked at him with serious dark eyes.

"Oh come on, Cas. It would be the hottest make up sex ever." Tyler reasoned before kissing me again, he moved down my jaw and I shivered.

"For who?" I scoffed, but Tyler ignored me, I tried to push against his shoulders but it was like pushing against a wall, "No, it's not going to happen." He ignored meand I tried pushing against him harder. "It's not going to happen, Ty. Not here. Not like this, no. I said no! Get off!" Tyler slammed me against the tree harder and I winced as the bark scratched my bare legs and arms. "Ow! That hurts!"

"Hey, leave her alone!" I heard a voice and saw a figure running towards us, I recognised Matt and sighed in relief, he pulled Tyler from me and took me in his arms.

"Calm down, Matt, we're fine back here." Tyler told him.

"Yeah, well it didn't sound fine to me, man. I could hear Cassie's screams from meters away." Matt retorted, Tyler just shook his head and held his hand out to me.

"Well? You coming or what?" Tyler asked, I looked at his hand and shook my head violently.

"No way, Tyler, get the hell away from me!" I shouted at him, ending it with a hard glare.

"Wow, anyone would think you'd be up for it, the way you dress and act all the time. You're a tease, Cassie, I'm glad I'm rid of you." Tyler walked off into the woods, I was shivering and felt Matt's jacket around me.

"Thanks, Matt." I smiled up at him and he shrugged.

"It's ok, Cas. Just promise me you won't go off with someone else in the woods tonight." He joked, I laughed lightly as we began making our way back to the party, I noticed Vicki and Jeremy arguing a little way off, but ignored them. I was way too drunk to care. We reached the party again and saw Stefan and Elena talking together on the bridge by the falls, I looked over at Matt and saw him sigh, my hand moved down and squeezed his lightly. We watched as Stefan left Elena alone, he looked over at me. "Do you mind if I..." He asked a little awkwardly, I shook my head and smiled.

"You do what you have to do, Matt." I assured him, he nodded and walked over to my sister, I sighed and walked off looking for another drink.

After a few minutes of speaking with Bonnie I saw Jeremy stumble off into the woods, "Oh God..." I groaned.

"What? What is it?" Bonnie asked with concern etched onto her face.

"Jeremy just went stumbling into the woods, I better go after him before he finds trouble." I explained, Bonnie nodded sympathetically and I handed her my drink before following Jeremy into the woods. I heard a twig snap behind me and froze and turned quickly, expecting it to be Tyler, I sighed in relief when I saw my mirror image. "Let me guess, you saw Jeremy wander out here alone too?" I asked, she simply nodded and joined me. We resumed walking, trying to catch up to our little brother.

"Jeremy, where the hell are you going?" Elena called out to him, he didn't turn round but he answered back all the same.

"I don't wanna hear it!" He moaned, his voice was slurred and he was stumbling a lot more now.

"Where's Vicki?" I muttered under my breath, recently I had come to the conclusion that Jeremy's anger stemmed from Vicki, I shivered against the cold and saw an unnatural fog roll in from the trees.

"Yeah, well, too bad!" Elena replied to Jeremy with her teeth chattering, so now Jeremy and Elena were ignoring my questions. Great. Suddenly Jeremy fell with a thud, I sighed and shook my head. Drunk teens these days.

"Vicki? No! Oh, my god, it's Vicki!" Jeremy started yelling, I exchanged a confused look before running over to Jeremy's side, I gasped at what I saw: Vicki lay unconscious on the floor, a wound was on the side of her neck and blood was slowly seeping out of it.

"Oh my God!" Elena exclaimed and Jeremy looked at us with tears pooling his eyes, he looked back at Vicki and touched her cheek.

"No!" Jeremy cried out loud, I snapped into action, sobering up as I moved towards Jeremy.

"Move, Jer!" I shoved him off of Vicki and checked her pulse, it was faint but still present. "We need to get some help! Help me carry her." I picked up her feet and looked at my siblings, Jeremy grabbed her shoulders and Elena guided us through the thick fog back to the party.

"Somebody help!" Elena cried out desperately to the crowd of partying people, they quietened down when they saw Vicki, a few screams rippled through the crowd, Matt and Tyler walked forward.

"Vicki? Vicki, what the hell?!" Matt ran forward and helped me and Jeremy lay her carefully on the table, people moved cups of alcohol and empty bottles.

"What happened to her?" Tyler ignored me completely and looked at Elena, Elena shrugged and I had to prevent myself from rolling my eyes.

"Somebody, call an ambulance!" Matt ordered the crowd, people had formed a tight circle around the bench, I saw several bright lights from phone screens and heard the dial tone of people phoning the emergency number.

"Everybody back up, give her some space." Tyler put his hands out and ushered the crowd backwards.

"It's her neck, something but her. She's losing a lot of blood." Elena was telling Matt and pointing to where Vicki had been attacked.

"Hey, Cassie! Put this on her neck." A boy from my year handed me a damp shredded rag from a shirt, I shot him a grateful glance and rushed over to Vicki, biting my lip as I delicately pressed it onto her neck. I held a breath and waited for Vicki to react, but she remained oblivious to it all.

"Vicki? Vicki! Come on, open your eyes, look at me!" Matt was shouting to the girl, he looked up and I frowned at something, I followed my gaze and saw Stefan look at the scene with a pained expression, before turning and running away.

"What the hell?!" I asked myself as I looked at Stefan's retreating figure, I looked at Matt and he gave me the same look I probably had. "Strange, very strange..." I murmured, I heard a siren and saw blinking red lights and sighed in relief: the ambulance had come, finally. "It's gonna be ok, Matt." I soothed him, but he was past the comforting stage now, his hands were gripping Vicki's shoulders so tightly I actually winced for her.

_Salvatore Boarding House (Stefan's P.O.V)_

I ran as fast as I was able back to the boarding house, the images of Vicki's wound and Cassie and Matt's look to me as I watched and ran from the scene like a coward, the would figure something was up. I rushed into the Boarding House and slammed the door, as if to try and close of my growing problem of another vampire possibly in town. My 'uncle' Zach looked up from his book in the living room, "What's going on?" He asked me with a confused expression etched onto his aging face.

"Someone else was attacked tonight, Zach, and it wasn't me." I explained firmly when I saw suspicion cloud his features, I ran upstairs to my bedroom and closed the door, hiding from Zach's accusing looks. A crow flew at me from my open window and I stared at it before turning around, knowing instantly who'd be there. "Damon." I stated his name with no emotion, I looked at my dark haired brother standing at the window, he was wearing dark jeans and a leather jacket, all complete with his trademark smirk that I had come to loathe.

"Hello, brother." Damon greeted me back, his smirk widening and mischief glinting in his blue eyes.

"Crow's a bit much, don't you thinks?" I pointed to the huge dark bird perching on one of the low beams on the ceiling.

"Wait till you can see what I can do with the fog." Damon chuckled and rolled his eyes for emphasis.

"When'd you get here?" I asked him carefully, trying to steer the conversation from the inevitable.

"Well, I couldn't miss your first day of school," Damon mocked and smirked again, "Your hair's different, I like it."

"It's been fifteen years, Damon." I told him with a glare, he nodded and heaved a fake sigh.

"Thank God. I couldn't take another day of the nineties. That horrible grunge look? Did not suit you. Remember, Stefan, it's important to stay away from fads." Damon scolded lightly and I sighed at the insult.

"Why are you here?" I sighed.

"I missed my little brother." Damon answered innocently, but his smirk sprung back up again after he had said it.

"You hate small towns, it's boring. There's nothing for you to do." I pointed out to him, Damon nodded in agreement but shrugged.

"I've managed to keep myself busy." He informed with with a malicious grin, I blinked and Elena and Cassie popped up in my head.

"You know, you left that girl alive tonight. That's very clumsy of you." I distracted him, avoiding the subject of the Gilbert twins completely.

"Ah, that can be a problem... For you." He grinned again and I rolled my eyes at his pettiness.

"Why are you here now?" I asked, but of course I knew the answer.

"I could ask you the same question. However, I'm fairly certain your answer can be summed up all into three little words... Elena and Cassie." I froze as he said this, fear for the two girls bubbling in me.

_Party (Cassie's P.O.V)_

I watched as Vicki was stretchered into the back of the ambulance, Matt jumped in the front and the vehicle drove off, police cars had arrived on the scene shortly after the ambulance, prompting most people to leave before being caught by the police. "Hey," A voice behind me caused me to turn around, Bonnie stood there with Caroline, "We're going to the Grill to get coffee and wait for news, do you wanna join?" Caroline still looked completely drunk and I looked over her shoulder and saw her mum - the sheriff standing with some policemen.

"Thanks but no thanks, Bon. I need to make sure Elena and Jeremy get-."

"Elena already left with Jeremy." Bonnie cut me off, I narrowed my eyes and sighed.

"Umm... Ok, seeing as you still owe me a lift from yesterday morning." I shot her her a sly smile and walked over to her car.

"Don't do that." Bonnie walked over clutching Caroline's hand.

"Do what?" I arched an eyebrow and folded my arms.

"Pretend to not care, you're angry Elena left and you're pretending not to care." Bonnie stated and opened the door for Caroline, she helped her in and without waiting for a reply from me, walked around to the front and got in. I sighed and got into the passenger seat. "You know earlier? With the crow thing?" Bonnie asked as the car pulled out onto the road and headed in the direction of the town center. I stiffened at the mention of the crow but nodded.

"Yeah, what about it?" I replied, trying to keep the fear wavering through my voice.

"Look, Cassie, there's no way I'm psychic. I know that. But whatever I saw, or I think I saw, I have this feeling..." Bonnie kept her eyes on the road, I looked over to her, a sinking feeling appeared in my stomach.

"What, Bonnie?" I whispered quietly, my mouth was dry and my hands were shaking a little.

"That this is only the beginning." She told me, her brown eyes shifted to me, I swallowed and nodded, to shocked to make a sound.

_Salvatore Boarding House (Stefan's P.O.V)_

"They took my breath away. They're both dead ringers for Katherine. Elena's pretty and all, but I gotta say, Cassie just does it for me you know? They way she dresses and acts, wow! Is it working, Stefan? Being around them, being in their world? Does it make you feel alive?" Damon taunted me, I saw his blue eyes flash as he described Cassie.

"Neither of them are Katherine, Damon." I told my brother seriously, he just shrugged and grinned.

"Yeah? Come on. Don't you crave a little?" Damon started tapping my shoulder, I knew what he was doing.

"Well, let's hope not. We both know how that ended. Tell me something, when's the last time you had something stronger than a squirrel?" Damon walked over to me and looked deep into my eyes, I saw a monster in those blue orbs.

"I know what you're doing, Damon. It's not gonna work." I stated, fighting down the feeling of hunger.

"Yeah? Come on. Don't you crave a little?" Damon started tapping my arm annoyingly, his voice low and taunting.

"Stop it." I growled, closing my eyes and fighting vainly against the craving of human blood.

"Let's do it. Together. I saw a couple girls out there. Or just, let's just cut to the chase, let's just go straight for Cassie and Elena." He started hitting me harder, I opened my eyes and glared at him.

"Stop it!" I shouted at him, Damon merely smiled.

"Imagine what their blood tastes like!" Damon pressed further, I shoved him back and let out a breath, feeling the veins beneath my eyes appear under the surface and my fangs lengthened. "I can."

"I said stop!" I shouted and blurred towards him, I grabbed his shoulders and pushed him through the bedroom window, we crashed through it and glass smashed outwards, we fell and crashed onto the driveway, glass littered the ground around us. When I looked up Damon wasn't on the ground like I had hoped.

"I was impressed. I give it a six. Missing style, but I was pleasantly surprised. Very good with the whole face thing. It was good." He imitated me and smirked, I sighed at his childishness.

"You know, it's all fun and games, Damon, huh? But wherever you go, people die." I told him as I stood up from the ground.

"That's a given." Damon shrugged and I frowned and shook my head.

"Not here. I won't allow it." I said firmly.

"I take that as an invitation." Damon told me in a smug tone, smirk on his face.

"Damon, please. After all these years, can't we just give it a rest?" I begged him, I knew I couldn't let Elena or Cassie be hurt by my brother.

"I promised you an eternity of misery," Damon shrugged and looked at me innocently, "So I'm just keeping my word."

"Just stay away from Elena." I pleaded, Damon grinned, showing teeth.

"What? No Cassie too?" Damon asked with his grin still showing.

"You know what I meant!" I sighed, rubbing my face.

"Where's your ring? Oh, yeah, sun's coming up in a couple of hours, and, poof, ashes to ashes," Damon gutted, my eyes widened and I searched the ground to look for it, "Relax. It's right here." Damon handed the object out to me, I looked at him suspiciously but went to grab it, in a flash I was up against the wall, Damon's hands around my throat. "You should know better than to think you're stronger than me. You lost that fight when you stopped feeding on people," He smiled maliciously and leaned in close, "I wouldn't try it again." He dropped me and I fell to the floor, gasping for breath as I feebly put my ring on my right forefinger, Damon was looking up at the house where a light had turned on in Zach's room. "I think we woke Zach up." Damon muttered and walked over to the front porch, leaving me on the floor.

_The Grill (Cassie's P.O.V)_

"Are either of you sober yet?" Bonnie asked me and Caroline, the blonde was holding her head in ger hands and her eyes were squeezed shut, I was staring at the steam floating up from my cup of coffee.

"No." Caroline and I moaned in unison, eyes blinking in the bright light of the bar.

"Well, both of you keep drinking that, I gotta get you both home, I gotta get me home." Bonnie told us gently, I pulled a face at the coffee and slid it over to Caroline, she gave me a grateful look and took a long sip.

"Why didn't he go for me? You know, how come the guys that I want never want me?" Caroline asked Bonnie and me, her eyes wide and full of despair. It reminded me of the look a child had when you took their toys away.

"I'm not touching that." Bonnie looked at Caroline and shook her head, I suddenly figured out who she was talking about.

"This is about Stefan?" I asked the blonde, she nodded with sad eyes.

"I'm inappropriate. I always say the wrong thing. And... Elena always says the right thing. She doesn't even try! And he just picks her. And she's always the one that everyone picks, for everything. And I try so hard, and... I'm never the one." Caroline continued miserably. I shook my head and looked at her.

"Caroline... Elena and Stefan aren't even together." I told her, Caroline swung round and glared at me.

"You don't get it, Cassie! I am out of the competition, you just dress provocatively and pout your lips, guys come running." Caroline seethed.

"Hey! You can't just-." I lunged towards the girl but Bonnie grabbed hold of my hands.

"Stop it, you two!" Bonnie commanded, I glared at Caroline but she merely shrugged. "It's not a competition, Caroline." Bonnie scolded the blonde, Caroline looked up at Bonnie with wide eyes.

"Yeah it is." Caroline whispered, I shook my head and Bonnie sighed.

"Right, I'm outta here." Bonnie picked up her bag and stormed out of the bar.

"Great." I sighed and went over to the bar to get a proper drink, a dark haired man wearing a black leather jacket was at the bar ordering a drink when the barmen wasn't looking I unbuttoned a couple of buttons from my top and pushed my chest out.

"Can I have a scotch on the rocks, please?" I pouted at the barmen and he nodded and poured me a glass.

"Here you go, sweetie." The barmen, passed the glass over to me and I reached into my purse to get money, a hand on my arm made me jump and I looked over to see the dark haired stranger look at me.

"Here, let me." The man said and bought out a note, he placed it on the bar and the barmen shrugged and took the note before going to serve another customer.

"Thanks." I told the man and he shrugged.

"Well come on, a pretty girl like you can't expect to pay for her own drinks." The guy told me, his eyes were a deep blue.

"Oh, well... Thanks." I muttered, turning my head so he wouldn't see my blush, "I'm Cassie by the way." I told him.

"Damon." He tipped his drink to me and I smiled.

"Ok, well, thanks for the drink." I told him and got off of the bar stool and turned towards Caroline, she had returned to her previous position of holding her head in her hands and her eyes firmly shut.

"No. Stay." Damon looked deep into my eyes and ai found myself nodding and sitting back onto the bar stool, Damon smiled smugly and I blinked in confusion.

"What's that look?" I asked him, Damon,shrugged and tapped his nose and I couldn't help but snigger. "Umm ok, mysterious guy." I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my drink.

"So tell me, Cassie, why is a girl like you sat at a bar at this hour?" Damon asked me with an intense look.

"Well, I was at a party, my sister ditched me and then my friend ditched me." I explained and finished the drink.

"Wow, ditched twice in one day. Harsh." Damon laughed into his glass and I hit him lightly on his back.

"Ouch." I laughed and Damon smirked. He gestured to the barmen for two more and looked back at me. "So, you're new here, right? Because I've never seen you around before." I told him and he shrugged.

"I used to live here, but I moved around quite a bit, I didn't really get on with my family much..." Damon trailed off and I nodded in sympathy.

"I get it, I have a twin and a younger brother and sometimes I just..."

"Go on." Damon prompted as the drinks were set down in front of us.

"I guess I just wish I could get away from it all." I admitted as Damon passed me my drink.

"Ah, well, siblings are always tough but I think that you'll always care about them in some ways." Damon shrugged again, I nodded and looked, out the window to see a familiar car pull up.

"Shoot! My aunt's turned up!" I told Damon and downed my drink, "It was nice to meet you, Damon." I told him and went to move away but he grabbed my arm, I looked back at him, suddenly scared.

"Now it's my turn for a few questions, Cassie. Do you know someone called Stefan Salvatore?"

"Yes." I answered as I looked at Damon's eyes, I tried to turn away from them but I couldn't.

"And what do you think of him?"

"I think he's strange but my sister likes him so I guess he must be doing something right." I told him, all I had wanted to say was that he was a nice guy, but it was like I didn't have control of my mouth anymore.

"Right. Last question," He brushed my hair from my face and leaned closer, "Do you think I'm good looking?"

"Ye-."

"Cassie! Come on, we need to go home. Now." My aunt Jenna called to me, cutting off my answer. Damon took his eyes off me and I breathed out; it was like I was being released of whatever had a hold over me, I had no recollection on what we had been talking about a few seconds earlier and it was unsettling. I nodded to Jenna and smiled at Damon.

"Well it was nice seeing you, Damon." I told him, and he smirked at me and nodded.

"You too, Cassie." He said and I blushed and quickly retreated to Jenna.

"Who was that?" Jenna asked immediately when we walked out of the bar.

"Just some guy." I shrugged nonchalantly and looked away.

"Some guy who made you blush." She teased and I rolled my eyes at her but couldn't help but smile.

"Whatever, Jenna." I muttered and got into the car, "Is Elena home?" I asked her when she got in.

"Yeah, she came back with Jeremy an hour or so ago, she said she couldn't find you so she came home." Jenna told me as she pulled out onto the road and started heading down the road towards our house. I was quiet for the rest of the journey, I spent it trying to remember what me and Damon had talked about after I saw Jenna's car, I failed miserably.

When we got home I ran straight upstairs without another word, I passed Elena's bedroom and heard voices on the other side of the door but I was too tired to care. I entered my bedroom, taking off garments as I walked over to my bed and falling on it in just my underwear, I couldn't get the dark haired stranger Damon out of my head as I crawled under the covers, I sighed and gave up on trying to remember what I had said to him after Aunt Jenna had turned up, I blamed it on alcohol and sighed and turned out the lights, falling asleep instantly.


	3. Night Of The Comet Part 1

**Author's Note:****Thank You so much for the reviews! the more reviews I get, the more chapters I post!**

**Cassie Gilbert **

**Chapter 2 The Night Of The Comet Part 1**

_Gilbert House (Cassie's P.O.V) _

_I was running through the forest near Mystic Falls, a dark presence behind me. I slowed for a moment and looked back, panting as I searched behind me. Satisfied that I was no longer being chased, I stopped completely and leant against a tree for support as I caught my breath back. When I turned round I screamed - Damon stood there amongst the trees gazing at me intensely, I backed away carefully but my heel came into contact with a log, I tripped and fell onto the dark, cold forest floor. I cried at as Damon approached me, he said nothing but his blue eyes locked on with my neck, I crawled backwards until my back hit a tree and gulped. My heartbeat drummed in my ears as Damon vanished and appeared beside me in a blur, I screamed when I looked into his face, dark scarlet veins were running beneath his pale blue eyes, his mouth was open, displaying threatening fangs. His tongue ran over the canine tips and he grabbed me forcefully, clamping a hand over my mouth and biting down into my exposed neck._

I woke up with a gasp, my hand immediately went to the side of my neck and I inspected it for any change. I sighed in relief when I realised there wasn't, with a groan at my bad dream and sudden early start I regretfully stood up out of bed and padded to my bathroom, I stared at my reflection in the mirror: I looked a little paler today, my eyes looked ringed with sleep deprivation and I felt like I could curl up on the floor and sleep. I got ready fairly quickly, showering and applying makeup and putting on a pair of ripped jeans and a navy blouse, Mr Tanner's lecture still fresh in my mind. I walked passed Elena's room to see the door slightly ajar, she too was ready for school and was busy writing into her diary. I smiled and continued on down the stairs to find my Aunt Jenna biting her lip and holding a hair brush in her hand and a worried look on her face, to my surprise she was wearing a gold silk blouse and black respectable office skirt. I raised my eyebrows and nodded to her reflection as I passed her, her hand shot out and clamped my shoulder and I was pulled back. "Do I look adult? As in respectfully parental?" Jenna's eyes looked at mine worriedly, I caught on to her nervousness and smiled reassuringly at her.

"Depends on where you're going." I told her and tried to prise her hand off of my arm, I succeeded but didn't attempt to move by her again.

"I have to attend a parent-teacher conference involving you and Jeremy. Hair up or down?" Jenna started brushing her hair. _Parent-teacher conference? Uh oh..._

"Umm, let's see, uhhh, the first one." I stumbled over my words, it was obvious she was called in by Mr Tanner, he was the only teacher who hated me enough to actually ask Jenna to attend a dumb conference anyway. Jenna nodded and put her hair up in a bun, she didn't look like the familiar carefree aunt I was used to, she looked... Like an adult. "Sexy stewardess." I named the style, she nodded and dropped the bun, immediately my immature aunt came back and I relaxed. "Boozy housewife." I winked, she rolled her eyes but nodded all the same.

"Up it is," Jenna pulled her hair into a bun and secure it with hair pins and hair bands, "You're feisty today, well, feistier than normal." She observed, looking at me closely.

"Yeah, well, I didn't have much sleep last night. I kept having horrible dreams that seemed so real and I think it's just too much to deal with right now." I admitted quietly, Jenna nodded in understanding but then nudged me.

"I bet all the alcohol you consumed yesterday didn't help." She teased and I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever, Jenna, I had an ok night last night. Apart from the Vicki thing everything went well." I was lying: I hadn't said anything to anyone what Tyler did, or the fact that I couldn't remember what I had said to the mysterious stranger Damon last night. What if I had said something embarrassing? Or one of Elena's secrets? Or one of mine? I had stayed up until late trying to figure out what I had said, but nothing was working. "Where's Jeremy?" I broke the silence with a question I already knew the answer to: Jeremy wouldn't be up this early in the morning, who in their right mind would? Apart from weirdos of course...

"Jeremy actually left early today, something about getting to wood shop to finish of a birdhouse." Jenna told me as she pit in earrings, she caught my confused look in the mirror. "There is no wood shop, is there?" Jenna asked me with a crestfallen look.

"No." I shook my head and Jenna nodded.

_History Class (Cassie's P.O.V) _

I kept my word to Mr Tanner and arrived on time, with the right books and a pen, I was dressed appropriately and I didn't listen to music. But by God, was I bored. I didn't know how anyone was supposed to do it without anything to help ease the boredom, my own desk was staring to look interesting at the last part of Mr Tanner's lecture. Elena had found a way to get rid of the boredom: gaze longingly into a certain Salvatore's eyes, Stefan enjoyed this activity too, I looked to my right and saw that Matt didn't particularly enjoy this newfound activity. "Originally discovered nearly 5 centuries ago, it hasn't been over Mystic Falls in over 145 years. Now, the comet will be its brightest right after dusk during tomorrow's celebration. Are we bothering you, Mr. Salvatore? Ms. Gilbert?" Mr Tanner had finally noticed Elena and Stefan's longing looks and decided to end Matt's silent suffering, upon hearing herself being addressed, Elena snapped out of it and began to blush profusely, it was amusing I guess. The signalling lesson changeover sounded and I almost cried in relief. As I walked out of the classroom I decided that a detention was worth listening to music and not carrying a bag that weighed a tonne. I saw Elena and Stefan ahead of me in deep conversation and decided not to interrupt, I heard a familiar voice behind me and slowed so I could slip in next to them.

"I'm confused. Are you psychic or clairvoyant?" Caroline was asking Bonnie, I rolled my eyes: Bonnie was truly going to keep up with the psychic thing for the rest of the term.

"Technically, Grams say I'm a witch," _Forget term, she's gonna keep this going all year. _"My ancestors were these really cool Salem witch chicks or something. Grams tried to explain it all, but she was looped on the liquor so I kinda tuned out. Crazy family, yes. Witches? I don't think so." Bonnie explained, she sent me a smile in greeting and I smiled back politely.

"Yeah, well, feel free to conjure up the name and number of that guy from last night." Caroline sighed wistfully, I looked confused at her: I was with her after Bonnie left and I saw no guy go over to her whilst I was with Damon.

"I didn't see him, you did. Why didn't you just go talk to him?" _Ah. _

"I don't know, I was drunk." Caroline shrugged and I couldn't help but snigger at that: Caroline could barely raise her head in The Grill last night, let alone talk to a guy. We exited the school to see Matt and Elena in a deep conversation and I couldn't help but wince.

"That's gotta be rough for Matt." I told the two girls, they both nodded and turned away. "Does anyone know how Vicki is doing? We waited at The Grill for news but none came so I'm in the dark about it." I asked both Caroline and Bonnie but directed the question at Caroline: Bonnie was far too polite to go around asking about stuff she didn't need to know about.

"I heard in third period that she's fine, Jeremy sneaked in the hospital to see her this morning apparently." Caroline told us, Bonnie looked at me as if she expected a reaction about Jeremy. But I'm not Elena. I merely shrugged and kept walking so they would too.

"And you're fine about Jeremy acting the way he has been for the last few months?" Bonnie asked me, I shrugged again and looked at her.

"Jeremy doesn't know how to deal with our parents' death, he's obviously just acting out because he doesn't want the normality. Jenna is doing a great job of looking after us but I don't think normal will ever be the same, not without our parents." I admitted to the two girls, they looked at me pityingly and I hated it but decided not to be mean about it. We reached Elena in silence, she was alone now, Matt had left her and I think Stefan had gone home too. "So... The Grill?" I asked them.

"Well, I was talking to Grams, and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom. The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity." Bonnie was pointing to a flyer advertising tonight's comet, the four of us were sat outside The Grill, trying to relax after the school day.

"Yeah, and then you poured Grams another shot and she told you about the aliens." Caroline joked and the table sniggered a little, Caroline's blue eyed gaze shifted to my twin's, "So then what?" She inquired, Elena had told us that Stefan had been over last night, and he hadn't left till late.

"So then nothing." Elena shrugged innocently, I rolled my eyes whilst Bonnie shrugged, Caroline looked almost ready to explode.

"You and Stefan talked all night? There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?" Caroline pressed, she looked ready to lunge at my twin and shake the answer out of her, but I knew Elena was telling the truth: she may be unbelievably prude but I knew when my twin was being honest.

"Nope. We didn't go there." Elena shook her head.

"Not even a handshake? I mean, Elena, we are your friends. Ok? You are supposed to share the smut." Caroline told her, I smirked at my blonde friend's shallow behaviour.

"We just talked for hours." Elena shook her head again but ended with a little smile at the memory.

"Oh come on. You have to admit that is a little weird." I looked at Elena with a pained look, her and Stefan's relationship sounded either horribly awkward or...deep and loving.

"Ok, what is with the blockage? Just jump his bones already! Ok, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex!" Caroline ended with a cheeky grin and I laughed, Bonnie and Elena pulled a face.

"Profound." Elena told Caroline sarcastically, she thought for a moment before getting up from her chair, I looked at her questioningly.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked my twin, Elena shrugged simply.

"Caroline's right. It is easy. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying what I was going to do." Elena explained with a determined look.

"Sure you will." I said with my voice dripping with doubt, I sighed and got up too.

"And where are you going?" Elena crossed her arms and gave me her paternal look.

"I'm going to shove you through the door in case you get cold feet." I told her with a smirk, she sighed and walked off to her car, I followed her and got in and we drove in silence.

I sat with my mouth open in awe as we drove towards the Salvatore Boarding House, it was easily the grandest house I had ever seen. I followed Elena up to the large oak door, Elena shot me a look and I sighed and gripped the large rope and pulled, a bell sounded but no one answered. Elena turned and knocked on the door, the door creaked open and I stepped past her and walked inside, ignoring Elena's taps and objective looks. "Stefan? Stefan?" Elena called, her voice echoed around the large house. A crow sounded behind us and I jumped, it flew into the house and we turned around and I had to cup my mouth and stop a scream. The dark haired man from the bar, Damon. "I-I'm sorry for barging in. The door was," we glanced back and saw the door was no longer ajar, it was slammed shut, "Open." Elena stuttered, I looked at Damon and tried in vain to remember what I had said to him the other night. Damon tilted his head and his gaze shifted interestedly between me and Elena, he looked at Elena's straight hair and then looked at my wavy hair. I shifted uncomfortably and Elena looked away.

"You must be Elena," he looked at my twin, his blue eyes bright, "I'm Damon, Stefan's brother." _Brother?!_

"He didn't tell me he had a brother." Elena looked at him in near bewilderment whilst I looked at him in total bewilderment.

"Well, Stefan's not one to brag. Please come in, I'm sure Stefan will be along any second." Damon told us, Elena looked reluctant but turned to me.

"This is my sister-."

"Cassie, yeah we've already met." Damon looked at me with a glint in his blue eyes, I tried not to blush and flicked my hair from my shoulder.

"It was brief, but yes we have crossed paths before." I told my twin, making sure I looked unfazed about the comment.

"I wouldn't have minded if you could've told me, Cassie." Elena's dark eyes burned into mine but I ignored her.

"Wow," I looked at Damon and then at the large...living room? "This is your living room?" I asked the dark haired man.

"Living room, parlor, Sotheby's auction. It's a little kitschy for my taste." He switched gazes with me and looked at Elena, "I see why my brother's so smitten. It's about time. For a while there, I never thought he'd get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him." Damon heaved a sad sigh and I frowned, he was stirring and Elena didn't need to know and deal with this yet.

"The last one?" Elena asked, her eyes a little fearful, I tapped her shoulder and gave her a reassuring look.

"Yeah. Katherine, his girlfriend? Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet." His tone sounded apologetic but he didn't exactly look apologetic, I frowned at him but he gave me a wink and a smirk.

"Nope." Elena answered awkwardly, her eyes widened and she looked away.

"Oops. Well, I'm sure it'll come up now. Or maybe he didn't want to tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound. We all know how those relationships end." Damon shrugged and my eyes narrowed.

"You say that like every relationship is doomed to end." I glared at him, Damon looked at me and smiled, as if he was pleased he had gotten me angry.

"I'm a fatalist," Damon smirked, I walked up to hit him but Elena tugged on my arm, "Hello Stefan." Damon greeted and I turned around, Stefan stood in the doorway, his eyes were steely and hard, looking straight at Damon.

"Elena, Cassie. I didn't know you were coming over." Stefan addressed us but his eyes didn't leave Damon's.

"Yeah, we should have called. It's just-." Elena started, but Damon cut her off.

"Oh, don't be silly. You're both welcome any time. Aren't they, Stefan? You know, I should break out the family photo albums or some home movies. But...I have to warn you. He wasn't always such a looker." He nudged Elena playfully as he said this, I rolled my eyes and glared at him, he smirked back at me.

"Thank you for stopping by, girls. Nice to see you both." Stefan remained still and frowning at his brother.

"Yeah, we should probably go... It was nice to meet you, Damon." Elena turned to Damon and he smirked and looked at her.

"Great meeting you too, Elena." He kissed her knuckles and I tried to fight the wave of jealousy going through me, he sent me a suggestive grin and I turned away, turning back after a few seconds and came face to face with Damon. "Lovely to see you again so soon, Cassie," He looked deep into my eyes and I found I couldn't look away, "Come back soon, won't you?" My mind went blank and I nodded.

"I will." I replied and he smirked and kissed my cheek.

"Great." Damon whispered in my ear and Elena pulled me away, I blinked dazedly and looked ahead to see Stefan blocking the doorway, he was giving Damon a look of fury.

"Stefan... Stefan?" Elena was looking at Stefan, I looked back at Damon and he smiled and gave me a wave. I waved back but then I was pulled out of the room and outside, Elena gave me a weird look and led me to her car. "What," She asked as she started the engine, "Was that?"

"Huh?" I looked at her weirdly.

"Just now! One moment I was holding you back and you were ready to hit Damon, the next moment he was kissing your cheek and you were waving at him!" Elena told me with an annoyed look.

"Oh... Ummm, I dunno, Elena." I stared at the rear-view mirror at the Boarding House getting smaller and smaller... The place where Damon was.


	4. Night Of The Comet Part 2

**Cassie Gilbert **

**Chapter 2 ****The Night Of The Comet Part 2**

_Salvatore Boarding House __(Damon's P.O.V) _

"Yeah, we should probably go... It was nice to meet you, Damon." Elena turned her head to me and her brown eyes looked at mine cautiously. I smirked and took her hand and kissed her knuckles.

"Great meeting you too, Elena." I told her, my eyes switched to Cassie and I saw jealousy in her eyes. Her and Elena looked exactly like Katherine, but Cassie looked like her even more so because her hair was wavy like Katherine's. When I let go of Elena's hand I saw Stefan glaring daggers at me over her shoulder, I sent Cassie a grin and she turned away, I used this opportunity to cut across the living room silently and stand behind her. When she turned back I was right there, I looked into her fiery dark eyes and I decided to play with her a little bit, "Lovely seeing you again so soon, Cassie." I stared at her and began to compel her, "Come back soon, won't you?" I told her. Cassie's eyes glazed over and she nodded.

"I will." She nodded and I smirked and kissed her cheek.

"Great." I whispered in her ear and I felt her relax a little next to me, Elena pulled her sister away from me and dragged her over to the door, I looked over to see Stefan in their way but he wasn't paying any attention to them, he was looking at me with complete and utter hatred, I grinned at his reaction.

"Stefan... Stefan?" Elena looked confused at him, Cassie lost interest and looked back at me. She still had a dreamy look on her face and her eyes were a little unfocused, I smiled and waved at her, she waved back and was dragged from the room. I heard steps on gravel and the sound of a car engine pulling away from the house.

"Great gals. Whoo. Don't get me wrong, Elena's great... But Cassie? She's got spunk. You, on the other hand, look pooped. Did you over-exert yourself today? Let me guess...hospital." I taunted my younger brother, this was, hands down, the angriest I had ever seen Stefan.

"Someone had to clean up your mess." Stefan's eyes flashed angrily and I shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well, were you successful? Did the powers of persuasion work? Remember, if you don't feed right, none of those little tricks work right." I tutted and shook my head.

"How long were Cassie and Elena here?" Stefan changed the subject, I notice his eyes darken a little at this.

"Were you worried Stefan? Scared we may be doomed to repeat the past? Isn't that why you play your little game of 'I'm a high school human'?" I used my fingers to make quotation marks in the air.

"I'm not playing any game." Stefan denied with a shake of his head.

"Of course you are. We both know the closest you'll ever get to humanity is when you rip it open and feed on it." I said with a shrug.

"What kind of game are you playing, Damon?" Stefan crossed his arms, "I know you're already playing around with Cassie, you compelled her right in front of me. I know that you know that I'm gonna do everything in my power to protect everyone Elena loves." Stefan announced firmly, I sniggered at his seriousness.

"Hmmm, I am playing games with Cassie, but I'm pretty sure she likes playing the game too. I mean, you saw how happy she was, she had to be dragged out of here." I gestured to the door where Cassie and Elena had left through minutes earlier.

"She didn't look happy, Damon, she looked confused. You messed with her head she probably won't know why she acted the way she did because of you." Stefan told me sternly.

"Well, when she next turns up. In which I'm sure she will because I told her too," I gave him a wink and he glared at me, "I'm sure she will be more than happy to see me, and if she had any confusion I'm sure I can clear it up for her." I said with a smirk, Stefan shook his head and walked away.

_Gilber__t House (Cassie's P.O.V) _

"He's on the rebound and has raging family issues." I was sat on the counter watching Jenna and Elena unload the dishwasher.

"Well, at least it's an ex-girlfriend. Wait till you date a guy with mommy issues or cheating issues. Or amphetamine issues." Jenna grinned as she put away plates, I rolled my eyes and went to drawl a snappy remark but Elena stopped me with a look. The front door opened, signalling Jeremy coming back, Jenna snapped into action and ran out of the kitchen and into the doorway leading to the hallway, Elena and I followed closely behind. "Jeremy? Jeremy, where were you?" She asked my younger brother, who was clearly stoned off his ass, as he trudged up the stairs.

"More stoner stories? Look, Jenna, I get it, you were cool. And so that's... That's cool." He slurred and held his thumbs up, before putting his hood up and resuming his walk up the stairs.

"Oh! No, no, no!" Jenna grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and threw it at Jeremy, it came into contact with his shoulder and hit him. Hard. Jeremy turned around, a sad, confused look on his hooded bloodshot eyes.

"Ow! Why? Why... Why did you do that?" Jeremy moaned and rubbed his shoukder lazily.

"Listen up! Quit ditching class or you're grounded. No discussion." Jenna snapped and I heckled, she turned her fiery gaze on me and glared. "And you! Behave in class and stop dressing like you're about to go clubbing, or I swear to God I will lock you in your room and throw away the key!" She yelled at me, I raised my hands in objection.

"What the hell?" I asked her angrily, Jeremy leant against the wall and shrugged.

"Wow... Harsh, Jen. Parental authority, I like it. Sleep tight." He drawled and walked up the stairs, I glared at Jenna before running up the stairs after my brother, slamming the door to my bedroom loudly.

"You should have seen her earlier with Stefan's brother, Damon. One moment I had to hold her back because she was about to hit him, the next moment she was waving and giggling with him as he kissed her cheek." I heard Elena tell Jenna as they were still at the foot of the stairs.

"Damon? I've never heard of him, is he new in town?" Jenna's voice floated up to me, I sighed and walked over to my bed and pulled back the covers. I pulled off my clothes and stripped down until I was in my underwear, I heard a caw and saw the crow on the tree outside my window, I sighed and glared at the creepy stalker bird and shut the curtains. I dived into bed and shut my eyes, willing for sleep to come and take me into oblivion.

I felt refreshed after my power nap from earlier, it had granted me enough energy to go out and answer Elena's text on helping out with the comet night. Sure, I had arrived late but that was only because of my continued refusal to drive and Jenna was too annoyed at me to give me a lift, but as I was walking over to the town square the crow had followed me and I had changed my route quite a few times in order to be safe from it's beady gaze. I saw Bonnie and Elena handing out leaflets and they looked in a serious conversation, nevertheless I strolled over. "Isn't it? The timing is wrong, anyway." Elena was saying to Bonnie, I frowned at them.

"Timing for what, for you to tell Jenna what I do everyday when I'm not in school or at home?" I know it was a low blow but I was annoyed at my twin for telling Jenna my business, I don't do it to her, so she shouldn't do it to me.

"No actually, but if you started to try in school and not acting peculiar around strange hot guys who you've apparently 'run in to', then I wouldn't do it so much!" Elena replied hotly, I rolled my eyes.

"Oh please, you're just annoyed because you went over to see Stefan and he wasn't even interested in you!" I shouted back, Bonnie was staring at the laces on her converses awkwardly and people were starting to stop and stare in the direction of me and Elena. "Oh and please, do stare away, I love an audience when I argue, don't you?" I called to the crowd, my tone laced with sarcasm. The on-lookers all snapped back into what they were doing and averted their gaze from us, I smiled in satisfaction. "Now, where were we? Oh right we were back to hearing reasons why you can't put yourself out there." I smiled sweetly at my twin, she scoffed and stormed away, making me shrug. Bonnie smiled grimly at me and trailed after Elena.

"Hey, I got some candles. And could you, by any chance leave the family fighting at home?" Caroline handed me a bundle of candles, I merely shrugged.

"Well that depends. Can Elena not go around telling Jenna my business?" I asked Caroline back, Caroline shrugged uninterestdly and lit one of my candles, I saw Matt looking at Elena longingly and I walked over and gave him a candle and lit it. "Go." I told him, he nodded and walked quickly in Elena's direction, I smiled and turned back to Caroline.

"Have you, by any chance, seen a really hot guy around lately?" Caroline asked, images of Damon appeared in my mind and I thought them off with a mental stick.

"I, uhhh, no. No I haven't... What's he look like? I assume this is the hot guy from the Grill the other night." I smirked and nudged her and Caroline Forbes actually started blushing.

"It is and he's fairly tall, with dark hair and amazing blue eyes, quite slim but not that weedy guy slim, it's more of a hot surfer boy slim." She added and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Hot surfer boy slim?" I laughed and shook my head, then went over Caroline's description and my head snapped up. "Wait, do you know his name?" I asked her.

"I wish I did, I mean, I saw him earlier and I went over to talk to him, but then he just sorta..." She trailed off.

"Vanished." I finished for her, Caroline nodded and I shrugged, "Well maybe that's fate telling you to stay away from dark haired blue eyed guys. I always saw you with another blonde guy, really." I advised her but she shook her head.

"No! You haven't seen this guy, Cassie! He's hot, and I mean hot!" Caroline whined and I groaned inwardly.

"Ok, fine, Care. But don't say I didn't warn you." I told her and walked away to The Grill, I glimpsed my twin angrily blowing out her candle and walking away from Stefan. I winced and made a mental note to ask her about that later, as I was crossing the square I froze when I saw him, he was staring at me on the other side of the road and I stared back. A car passed in the road and when it was from my line of sight Damon was gone, I shivered and quickened my pace towards The Grill.

Matt, Tyler, Caroline, Elena, Bonnie, Stefan and I were sat around a table in The Grill waiting for the sky to darken to allow the comet to be seen. Tyler and I still weren't talking, and Stefan and Elena seemed to be going through a rough patch so the mood around the table was bordering on the edge of tense and relaxed. The barmen had recognized me from the other night and had served me alcohol, I was well on the way to becoming too intoxicated to make it across the room without tripping over something; Elena and Matt were giving concerned glances but I shrugged it off: I was happy, after all. Jeremy came over to our table with a worried look etched onto his features, nevertheless I jumped up and threw my arms around him. "Jeremy! My lil' baby bro!" I announced and hugged him hard, he froze and untangled himself from me, pushing me away so I stumbled back into a chair. Stefan steadied me and I looked at my brother with a hurt expression on my face, shrugging Stefan's supportive hand from my shoulder.

"Hey, has anyone seen Vicki?" Jeremy ignored me and asked the group, everyone exchanged a look and shook their heads.

"You're her stalker, you tell us." Tyler took a cheap shot and I frowned.

"You shut your mouth, Tyler. Leave Jeremy alone." I glared at him but Tyler simply raised an eyebrow at me.

"Whatever, Cassie. I'm not going to listen to a drunken mess, like you." Tyler snapped and I jumped back.

"Ouch, dude," I slurred, "Your words hurt me deep." I held a hand over my heart and rolled my eyes.

"I can't find her anywhere." Jeremy continued, a frown appearing on his forehead in concern.

"She probably found somebody else to party with. Sorry, pill pusher, I guess you've been replaced." Tyler shrugged and took a sip of his drink, Elena turned to Tyler frowning.

"What's with the pill pusher?" Elena asked him.

"Yeah, you tell 'im, Elena!" I punched the air, proud of my twin.

"Ask him." Tyler told my sister, his head nodding towards Jeremy. Elena raised an eyebrow and turned to our brother with crossed arms.

"You wanna do this right now?" Jeremy rolled his eyes at our sister.

"Are you dealing?" She asked him, her voice cold and stern.

"She's never gonna go for you." Tyler piped up.

"Shut up. I can't think of anyone who would go for you." I snapped at him.

"Well you did, Cas. You went for me lots of times." Tyler winked at me and placed a hand on my butt, I jumped away and hit a pillar.

"Don't touch me, Lockwood." I cried angrily, rubbing my arm where I had hit it against the hard wood.

"Vicki already went for me. Over and over again." Jeremy looked at the older boy with a triumphant glint in his eyes, everyone looked at Jeremy in shock.

"Yeah, right." Tyler turned his attention from me and snorted at Jeremy.

"You slept with Vicki Donovan, I mean... Vicki Donovan slept with you?" Caroline stuttered, her big blue eyes blinking, trying to process it.

"There's no way." Tyler shook his head in disagreement.

"Hey hey, if he said he did, he did. Ok?" I looked at the group, everyone but Stefan rolled their eyes at me.

"You're drunk, Cassie." Elena told me, and mimed zipping her lips shut, I raised an eyebrow but stayed quiet all the same.

"I didn't even have to force her into it, either." Jeremy raised his eyes challengingly at Tyler.

"What the hell is he talking about, Ty? I mean, I know what you tried to do with Cassie the other night." Matt looked at his friend angrily, everyone but Jeremy and Tyler's heads snapped towards Matt.

"What?" Elena looked at Matt desperately, her eyes glancing at me with concern.  
"I was drunk that night, man, that's why I got so bad with Cassie. Ignore Jeremy, he's a punk." Tyler defended, I stayed quiet and looked down at my hands on the table, going red at everyone staring at me.

"You know what, how about all of you shut up and help me find my sister?" Matt looked at Bonnie and Caroline, they both nodded in agreement.

"We'll check the back." Bonnie jerked her thumb in the direction of the bathroom and Matt nodded appreciatively at her.

"I'll check the square." Matt replied and grabbed his jacket, Jeremy looked at the blonde boy.

"I'll come with you." Jeremy offered and tried to escape with him, but Elena shot out her seat and grabbed his arm. Bonnie and Caroline walked away from the table and I turned to talk to Stefan, but was surprised to see he wasn't sat there anymore.

"Oh, no, no, no. You are coming with me. So that's your game now, dealing?" I turned my attention and saw Elena looking at Jeremy with anger flashing in her eyes.

"I'm not dealing." Jeremy stated firmly.

"Liar." I rolled my eyes and earned a glare from my brother.

"Stay out of this, Cassie." He warned, I frowned and sighed.

"Oh whatever." I sulked and got up from my seat and stumbled off towards the bathroom, but stopped when I heard screaming. I pushed open the door that led to the roof and ignored the Authorized Personnel Only sign. I left my heels at the bottom of the stairs and belted up them towards the screams, I burst through the roof of the door and gasped at the scene before me: Damon Salvatore stood there holding Vicki Donovan by the arm, they were leaning dangerously over the edge of the building.

"What are you doing?!" I cried out and Damon turned, his eyes glinting when he recognized me.

"Well well, isn't it the lovely, bad timed Cassie Gilbert." Damon looked at me with a predatory look, I gulped and backed away slowly, in a second he appeared in front of me and I screamed in shock, he put a hand over my mouth. "Shhh! Stop screaming and don't run." Damon ordered me, I stared into his hypnotizing eyes and nodded, he smiled and took his hand away from my mouth and took hold of my wrist, I winced and tears fell from my eyes as he started to lead me towards the edge of the building.  
"No, please stop. Don't." I cried and tried to escape his steely grip.

"Shhh, I got you, it's ok." Damon stroked my hair and then reached out and grabbed Vicki, we exchanged frightened glances and I felt dizzy at how close we were to the edge of the building. Below I saw Stefan looking up at us with a worried look on his face, he suddenly blurred and appeared behind us. I blinked: no one could possibly do that. "Not bad," Damon looked back at his brother with a bored look, "Have you been eating bunnies?" He asked with a mocking tone, finishing with the smirk I had begun to adore so much.

"Let them go." Stefan begged, tears still dripped from my cheeks and I looked back at him, petrified.

"Really?" Damon cocked his head, his hand let go of my arm and my brain screamed at my legs to run, to get away from the danger. But they stayed still, no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't run. I felt Damon's hand move up and pushed my back slightly, in my drunken state I stumbled slightly towards the edge, I yelled and reached out and clung onto his leather jacket, my eyes snapped shut and refusing to look down at the ground again.

"No, no, no!" I opened my eyes again and saw Stefan stepping forward but he stopped when Damon looked at him with a sadistic grin. He turned and threw Vicki over to Stefan, she landed in his arms sobbing uncontrollably. He kept hold of me though.  
"Ugh, relax. I wouldn't throw this one off a building." He rolled his eyes at Stefan and stroked my cheek, I flinched away and glared at him.

"Why would you do that? Are you insane?" I cried out and backed away from him, my heels hit the ledge and I screamed as I felt my myself falling backwards, Damon lunged and grabbed my wrist, pulling me back from the edge and into his arms.

"I'm not insane, but don't try that again." He told me sternly, I looked into his eyes and found myself nodding.

"What's happening? Why can't I scream for help? Or run?" I looked at Stefan with wild eyes, he looked sadly back at me.

"See, I don't need either of these girls dead but...you might need Vicki dead." Damon ignored my question and looked at his brother maliciously. Vicki looked up at this and shook her head, Damon sighed and cupped his hand under her chin, forcing her to look at his face. "What attacked you that night?" He asked her.

"I don't know," Vicki shook her head, suddenly tired, "An animal." She answered, Damon shook his head, his other hand still in mine, I tried to get out of it but he twisted it round painfully until I cried out and stopped.

"Are you sure about that? Think. Think about it. Think really hard. What attacked you?" Damon pressed, Vicki looked confused and frowned as she thought deeply about it, sudden realization blossomed on her face.

"A vampire." She whispered and I couldn't help bit snigger.

"A vampire, really? Come on Vick, we all know vampire's don't exist." I chuckled, Damon looked at me.

"Oh, don't they?" He asked me.

"Damon don't!" Stefan protested, I looked at Damon's blue eyes and shook my head.

"No, they don't." I told him, he smirked and suddenly dark red pulsing veins appeared from underneath his eyes, the blue orbs darken and turned crimson. I jumped back in shock but was dragged back by Damon's vice like grip on my hand, he opened his mouth and I saw long fangs, he leaned in and bit into my neck. I cried out against the sudden pain and then it was gone, Stefan shoved Damon off of me and I fell to the floor, a hand flew to my neck and I felt blood wet my fingers. More tears fell down my face as I tried to get my head around the sudden impossible evidence that vampires did in fact exist, and I just got attacked by one.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Damon?" Stefan glanced back at me on the floor and then back to his brother, Damon's face was normal but red was stained around his mouth, I shuddered as I realized it was my blood.

"Nothing is wrong with me, I am a vampire so I act like one. Cassie will be fine, I'll heal her and then erase her memory, she'll never know what happened to her." Damon shrugged and I frowned in confusion.

"Erase my memory?" I echoed, I stood up on shaky legs and a sudden wave of dizziness overtook me and I fell again, only instead of the cold concrete ground hitting me I fell into someone's arms. I looked up to see Damon holding me carefully, I started shaking with fear. I was starting to feel extremely light headed about the sudden blood loss combined with the alcohol, when Damon had put me in standing position I suddenly jerked to the edge and proceeded to throw up over it. "I feel weird." I groaned and leaned against the metal vent hatch, Stefan looked down at me with concern and Damon shrugged and stepped over to me.

"Sleep now, Cassie." He told me, I looked at him confusedly but to my surprise my eyelids suddenly felt heavy, I closed my eyes and sleep overtook me.

_Stefan's P.O.V_

I walked across the car park of The Grill and head a scream from nearby, I looked up and, to my horror, I saw Damon standing on the edge of the building with Vicki and Cassie in each arm. I blurred and sped up to the roof, appearing behind my brother and the two girls, Cassie looked back at me shocked and Damon looked back at me with boredom. "Not bad," he said, "Have you been eating bunnies?" He adopted a mocking tone and finished with his trademark smirk.

"Let them go." I begged Damon, I glanced at Cassie and saw tears falling from her dark eyes.

"Really?" Damon smiled and his hand moved from Cassie's arm to her back and he pushed her slightly, intending her to inch closer to the edge, but in her drunken state she stumbled and cried out, turning and clinging onto my brother's leather jacket, I saw the him smile as he looked down at the dark haired girl who refused to let go of him, her eyes were snapped shut but tears still fell from them.

"No, no, no." I told Damon and moved towards him, but stopped when he looked over at me and shot me a sadistic grin. I relaxed a little when he turned away from the edge and threw Vicki towards me, she landed in my arms and was sobbing loudly. I waited for him to give me Cassie but tensed when I saw he wasn't going to give her to me.

"Ugh, relax. I wouldn't throw this one off a building." He rolled his eyes at me and stroked Cassie's tear stained cheek, she flinched away from his hand and glared at him. I prepared myself to jump in and save her if he attempted to throw her again.

"Why would you do that? Are you insane?" She cried out, managing to escape from his grip. Cassie backed away from my brother with a terrified look on her face, her heels came into contact with the ledge and she let out a scream as she fell backwards, almost tumbling over the edge unless Damon's hand hadn't suddenly shot out and grabbed hers. I thought I saw genuine fear flash in his face as he pulled Cassie back over the building and pulled her safely away from the edge.

"I'm not insane, but don't try that again." Damon looked down at the girl almost sternly, it was as if he actually cared about her. Cassie looked up at him and nodded.

"What's happening? Why can't I scream for help? Or run?" Cassie looked at me with hysteria in her eyes, I felt sorry for the poor girl - Damon had been playing in her head for days now, she must be so confused.

"See, I don't need either of these girls dead but...you might need Vicki dead." Damon looked at me with a malicious look, ignoring Cassie's question completely. Vicki stopped sobbing and looked over at Damon when he said this, my brother sighed and reached out and cupped poor Vicki's chin, forcing her head to tilt and look up into his eyes. "What attacked you that night?" He asked the girl.

"I don't know," She answered Damon tiredly, "An animal." She told him, but Damon shook his head. Cassie was trying to escape from Damon again, but he twisted her arm painfully round until she cried out and stopped, I glared at him and clenched my teeth.

"Are you sure about that? Think. Think about it. Think really hard. What attacked you?" Damon asked Vicki again, she frowned in confusion and thought for a moment until the realization hit her.

"A vampire." The girl whispered, Cassie started sniggering.

"A vampire, really? Come on Vick, we all know vampire's don't exist." Cassie laughed at the girl, Damon glanced at me, slightly amused and looked down at Cassie.

"Oh don't they?" He asked the Katherine look alike, fear shot through me and turned my insides cold.

"Damon don't!" I called out to him in protest, but I was ignored as Cassie looked almost defiantly into my brother's eyes.

"No, they don't." She told him firmly, he smirked and his face began to transform, Cassie jumped back in shock but Damon dragged her back closer to him, he opened his mouth, displaying his fangs before he leaned down and bit into Cassie's neck. Cassie's cries of pain jerked me into motion, I sped over to Damon and shoved him off of her, the girl fell to the floor and her hand went to her neck to check it.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Damon?" I told him angrily as I glanced over at Cassie to see if she was fatally hurt, when I was satisfied she was fine my gaze snapped back to Damon, Cassie's blood was decorated around his mouth.

"Nothing is wrong with me, I am a vampire so I act like one. Cassie will be fine, I'll heal her and then erase her memory, she'll never know what happened to her." Damon merely shrugged his reply and I shook my head at him in disgust.

"Erase my memory?" Cassie echoed behind me, I turned to see her standing on shaking legs but she fell again, to my surprise Damon rushed to her aid and caught her before she hit the ground, she looked up at Damon and I could see from where I was standing that she was shaking in fear. As soon as Damon had carefully put the girl in an upright position she shot to the edge of the building and was sick over it, "I feel weird." Cassie groaned and slid down to the floor and leant against the metal ventilation shaft. I looked at the girl worriedly -she had gone through a lot tonight after all, Damon stepped over to the girl and looked into her eyes, compelling her again.

"Sleep now, Cassie." He told the girl in a soft, gentle voice. Cassie looked confused but soon the compulsion took effect and she closed her eyes and fell asleep. "Right," Damon stepped away from Cassie's sleeping form and looked at Vicki, "Back to the matter at hand." He smiled and blurred next to Vicki. "Who did this to you?" He gestured to the bandage on her neck, Vicki glared up at him.

"You did!" She told him angrily.

"Wrong." Damon shook his head.

"Don't." I told him again, but he ignored me.

"It was Stefan." He continued.

"Don't." I begged again.

"Come here." Damon's hands clasped the sides of Vicki's head and he compelled her. "Stefan Salvatore did this to you."

"Stefan Salvatore did this to me." Vicki repeated monotonously.

"He's a vampire. A vicious, murderous monster." Damon told her, a smirk slowly crept up on his face.

"Please Damon. Please don't do this." I begged him, but it was in vain.

"If you couldn't fix it before, I don't know what you can do now." Damon announced and ripped off Vicki's bandage, she whimpered and Damon pushed her to me. "Ugh! Your choice of lifestyle has made you weak. A couple of vampire parlor tricks is nothing compared to the power that you could have, that you now need. But you can change that. Human blood gives you that." Damon told me, I tried to keep my eyes off of Vicki's wound and looked at my older brother angrily. "You have two choices. You can feed and make her forget. Or you can let her run, screaming "vampire" through the town square." Damon told me in a nonchalant tone, as if this all meant nothing to him at all.

"That's what this is about? You want to expose me?" I asked him angrily, straining to let the blood lust kick in and feed from Vicki's neck.

"No! I want you to remember who you are!" Damon shook his head.

"Why? So what, so I'll feed? So I'll kill? So I'll remember what it's like to be brothers again? You know what, let her go. Let her tell everyone that vampires have returned to Mystic Falls. Let them chain me up, and let them drive a stake through my heart, because at least I'll be free of you." I told him sadly, I saw the steely glint in Damon's eyes fade a little at this.

"Huh. Wow. Come here, sweetheart." Damon took Vicki away from me and she struggled, he looked deep into her eyes and she relaxed.

"What happened? Where am I? Oh, I ripped my stitches open." Vicki blinked and I looked at her closely.

"Are you ok?" I asked her, she nodded and gave me a look.

"I took some pills, man. I'm good." She told me and then left the roof as if nothing had happened.

"It's good to be home. Think I might stay a while. This town could use a bit of a wake-up call, don't you think?" Damon broke the silence, I sighed and walked over to Cassie's unconscious form, but Damon sped over and beat me to it, I stiffened as he picked her up in his arms.

"What are you up to, Damon?" I asked him suspiciously.

"Relax, you have Elena. I have my Cassie, I'm just gonna make sure she gets home safely, you know how dangerous Mystic Falls can be at night." Damon smirked and I rolled my eyes.

"She's not your Cassie, Damon, she's a person. And deserves to be treated as such." I sighed and looked down at the Gilbert twin.

"Whatever, little bro. She needs healing and induced memory loss after she wakes up anyway." Damon shrugged and before I could reply he vanished into the night with her.

_Cassie's P.O.V_

I groaned and rolled over, I heard the rustling of crisp sheets and my eyes shot open. I was laying on top of a large double bed in an unfamiliar room, I sat up and was met with a pounding hangover across my forehead, I massaged my knuckles on my temples and blinked - everything that had happened when I was last awake came rushing back to me, I remembered Vicki on the rooftop with Damon... I got off the bed and stumbled a little, dizzy with confusion, my hand went to my neck and I recoiled at the wound that I felt under my fingers. I have to get help I ran quietly to the door and down the stairs, I gasped as I recognized the Salvatore Boarding House, crouching slightly, I bounded towards the front door and silently congratulated myself when I opened it. Then the door slammed shut and I let out a shuddering breath, I looked up and saw a hand holding the door closed, I shut my eyes but I knew he was behind me. "Leaving so soon?" I could hear the smirk in Damon's voice. I opened my eyes and looked back at him, trying to keep my voice even and bold.

"What do you want from me? I want to leave!" I told him, dodging around him and backing up into the living room, giving myself more space to run if I needed to.

"Cassie, we both know you saw some things tonight that you shouldn't have seen, I'm just going to help you." Damon looked at me and I shook my head.

"Don't touch me." I told him and shied away as he stepped closer, he rolled his eyes and grabbed my right arm in a steely grip.

"Now this," He said as I struggled against him, but he was too strong, "Won't hurt, you won't even remember being here." Damon assured me and I shook my head.

"What are you saying? Just let me go, I won't tell anyone! Please, just let me go." I pleaded and I saw a smile play on Damon's lips. His eyes suddenly darkened and veins pulsed beneath them, he opened his mouth and bit into his free wrist, I screamed and flinched back, but then the hand blurred and the wrist was on my mouth and the grip had left my arm but was restraining my head, I squealed and kept my mouth shut but then I made the mistake of looking into Damon's eyes.

"Drink." He told me, and instantly I opened my mouth and began to drink Damon's blood, after several seconds he took his wrist away and I coughed, disgusted, Damon's hand went to my neck and I flinched, expecting there to be pain from putting pressure on my wound, but there was nothing but the softness of Damon's hand stroking me. I shuddered at the touch and closed my eyes, enjoying the smooth touch. I heard Damon chuckle and my eyes snapped open and I moved my head away, flushing in embarrassment. "Well, this has been fun, Cassie. But I can't have you telling the town my secret, so you are not going to remember what happened tonight, you left to help search for Vicki but you couldn't find her, you eventually passed out in the parking lot and someone took you home." I nodded at Damon's words and closed my eyes as my mind blanked for a moment, when I opened them I was stood on the porch of my house. Sighing, I walked inside and proceeded straight up the stairs, I passed Elena on the landing but ignored her, I walked straight into my room and fell on the bed and sleep took me in moments.


	5. Friday Night Bites Part 1

**Cassie Gilbert**

**Chapter 3 Friday Night Bites Part 1**

_Mystic Falls High (Cassie's P.O.V)_

Elena, Bonnie and I were walking up the steps towards the high school, Bonnie and Elena were talking about Stefan. "I'm not saying don't date the guy, I'm just saying take it slow." Bonnie looked at my twin with her serious brown eyes, I didn't really understand why Bonnie didn't like Stefan: I thought he was a nice guy, but...

"I don't understand, you were the one who said to go for it." Elena looked back at our friend with a confused look written across her face.

"Now I'm saying take it slow." Bonnie shrugged.

"Bonnie I don't get it, what's so bad about Stefan?" I asked her.

"Yeah, why the about-face?" Elena piped up.

"It's not an about-face. You're single for the first time in your entire high school career. It's the perfect time to play the field." Bonnie told us, looking especially at Elena.

"Oh, because I'm so that girl," Elena raised an eyebrow and I couldn't help but chuckle: my twin _definitely _wasn't that kind of girl, "Seriously, what are you saying?" We stopped and Elena crossed her arms and looked at Bonnie expectantly. Bonnie looked at Elena for a moment, then her gaze flickered to me and she shook her head.

"It's stupid." Bonnie muttered and continued walking up to the school doors, Elena and I shared a look and I reached out and grabbed Bonnie's arm and yanked her back.

"Bonnie..." Elena tilted her head and gave her a look.

"What?" Bonnie sighed, annoyed.

"What do you mean 'what'? Tell us what you think!" I told her, sighing exasperatedly.

"I accidentally touched Stefan. And I got a really bad feeling." Bonnie shrugged, I frowned and shook my head at her, I know she was joking about being psychic but this was too far.

"Is that it?" Elena asked a little doubtfully.

"It was a _bad _feeling, guys." Bonnie insisted, I had to hide my grin behind Elena, pretty hard to do when you're half an inch taller than her.

"This is the whole witch mojo thing, isn't it?" I asked after I had composed myself.

"You know what, Cassie? I'm just concerned. This is me expressing concern about my best friend's new boyfriend." Bonnie narrowed her eyes at me and I raised an eyebrow, opening my mouth to tell her what I thought about her newfound 'psychic' powers, but Elena stepped in front of me and elbowed my ribs.

"And I love you for it, I do. But I feel good. It's been a hard year, and I'm starting to kind of feel like things are getting back to normal again. And you know what? Stefan is a big part of that." Elena smiled and touched Bonnie's arm comfortingly and we resumed walking into the school, I went back to silently preparing myself for the onslaught that was Mr Tanner, I hadn't worn a skirt since he had lectured me and I was beginning to loathe trousers and leggings - they weren't the same as my collection of skirts, no matter how tight my jeans were. We reached our lockers and I leant against the wall and waited for Elena to finish getting her books out, when I looked up I saw Stefan approaching, his eyes met mine and I saw a sort of sadness in them.

"Good morning, Elena, Bonnie... Cassie." He smiled at us as he greeted, Bonnie and Elena smiled back but I wasn't sure: why did he pause before saying my name?

"Hey, um, I gotta find Caroline. She's not answering her phone. So I'll see you guys later." Bonnie smiked thinly and stepped away and got swallowed by the masses of students, disappearing from view completely.

"She doesn't like me very much." Stefan shrugged and I nodded at him but Elena shook her head determinedly.

"She doesn't know you. She's my best friend. She's just looking out for me. But when she does, she will love you." Elena assured him, I shook my head over my sister's shoulder, Stefan looked at me and grinned a little. Elena looked back at me and gave me a look, I sensed she wanted me to leave and I nodded.

"Right, well this has been fun but I have to see Matt about Vicki." I told them and went to leave, but as I tried to pass Stefan he grabbed my arm and looked at me.

"Hey, can I, uhh_,_ talk to your sister for a moment, alone?" Stefan looked at Elena and I frowned in confusion: why would he want to talk to me? Elena shared the same expression as me but nodded all the same, as she walked away she sent me a glance, I shrugged back. "Walk with me, Cassie?" Stefan snapped me back to him and I nodded. We walked back out the doors of the school and in the grounds, I saw people chatting in groups. "So... Cassie, I didn't see you back at The Grill after we found Vicki last night, Elena was worried..." Stefan looked at me concerned, I looked at him weirdly and flicked my hair from my shoulder, putting my hand on my hip as I told him.

"Yeah, I passed out whilst I was looking for Vicki in the parking lot, someone took me home." I told him, over Stefan's shoulder I spied Matt and Tyler.

"And... You don't remember... Anything else that happened?" Stefan looked at me closely, I frowned and shook my head.

"No, that's all I remember. Should I be know anything else from last night?" I laughed, Stefan was acting strange today.

"No, no no, that's ok I was just wondering..." Stefan murmured, I raised an eyebrow.

"Ummm ok, great. Well, see you in first lesson." I told him and walked away, heading towards Matt and Tyler, when I reached them I saw Elena back with Stefan.

"Look...there's Elena and her new boyfriend. Now, what are they doing? Oh, they're walking, walking, walking. Yep. Right into the sunset." Tyler was smirking at Matt, I frowned and ducked as Tyler suddenly threw a football over to Matt.

"Hey! And they're not walking, they're talking." I corrected, glaring at my ex.

"She's right, Ty. You're a dick." Matt took my side and I couldn't help but grin.

"While you just stand there looking like one of those little yard trolls." Tyler ignored our comments and carried on, I rolled my eyes and backed up a little as Matt threw the football a little harder.

"Gnomes." Matt told him but Tyler shrugged.

"How's Vicki?" I asked the blonde haired boy, he caught the football and looked at me, his blue eyes a little worried but he nodded all the same.

"She's fine, Stefan found her, actually. Apparently she was just wandering around." Matt answered, his eyes flickered over my shoulder and I knew he was looking at Stefan.

"Well at least she's alright." I told him, he nodded again but said nothing.

"Yeah, I guess so... So what happened to you that night? I didn't see you back at the Grill when we found my sister." Matt asked me, I flicked my hair off and raised an elegant eyebrow.

"As you can imagine, I passed out in the parking lot looking for Vicki, someone took me home, I'm guessing it was you two." I told them, looking at Tyler as he stepped into earshot.

"As funny as I think that you got so drunk you managed to pass out, we didn't take you home, Cas. Matt drove me home and then with Vicki, no one else." Tyler told me, I looked at Matt and he nodded in agreement, I tilted my head and pouted in confusion.

"Well, then maybe Elena or Jer took me home?" I asked, a little worried.

"Elena took Jer straight home after she made sure Vicki was ok, Bonnie and Care didn't go home till late." Matt shook his head, I nodded slowly, shivering slightly at the thought of some stranger taking me home. But Matt and Tyler had already moved away and were throwing the football. Every so often Matt's gaze would wander to where Elena and Stefan were talking, Tyler sighed and rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Matt you need to stop pining over her, just get her back already." Tyler moaned, Matt narrowed his eyes at his friend.

"What am I supposed to do, Ty? She made her choice." Matt told Tyler, looking a little crestfallen as he said this. Tyler shook his head and caught the boy, he looked at it, glanced at me and then back at Matt.

"Let her know she made the wrong one." Tyler grinned and I shook my head angrily.

"Don't you dare." I glared but he ignored me, moving his arm back to throw the ball at Elena and Stefan, I saw Matt frown at Tyler too.

"What are you doing? Ty, don't. Ty, don't! Ty!" Matt protested, but Tyler lobbed the ball over to my sister and her Stefan, my hands went to my face and I peeked through my hands. I braced for the ball to come into contact with Stefan, but at the last moment he turned around and caught the ball, Elena and I gasped in shock, Stefan caught my eyes and smiled, throwing the ball back to Tyler. Tyler managed to the ball but stumbled back a few steps, I couldn't help but laugh at my ex's shocked face.

"See you in History." I told the boys smugly and walked up into the school, I saw Elena and Stefan already there so I walked over to them.

"That throw was insane!" Elena was telling the boy, her eyes shining, "I didn't know you played football." She continued, Stefan just shrugged and sent her a small smile.

"She's right, Stefan! You're even better than Tyler!" I told him, raising my eyebrow and sending him a rare look of fascination on my face.

"I used to, it was a long time ago." Stefan smiled and looked down at the ground, embarrassed.

"So why don't you try out for the team?" Elena asked the dark haired boy, I nodded in agreement. Stefan looked back up from the floor and his gaze shifted between my twin and I.

"Yeah, I don't think so." Stefan grinned, my smile dropped and I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Oh come on, I don't know if you know this, but I don't compliment people. Ever. And I just complimented you on your football skills and you still don't want to try out for the team?" I told him in an annoyed tone, Stefan's eyes looked into mine and I swear I saw them change, I narrowed my eyes and went to look closer but he turned away from me, Elena's hand went to my shoulder and she leaned in and whispered angrily into my ear.

"Stop being horrible to him, Cassie. You're so rude - if he doesn't want to try out for football then it's not your problem." Elena hushed into my ear. I rolled my eyes at my twin and walked off towards History.

School wasn't my favourite place in the world to start with, but History with Mr Tanner was just the cruel cherry on top of the torture that was school. Mr Tanner had decided to move off the 1800's and onto World War II. Yay. "World war II ended in... Anyone got anything?" He surveyed around the class, I ducked my head and made sure to avoid eye contact with him so I wouldn't be picked on. Bonnie was doodling something in her notebook and Matt was gazing longlingly in my twin's direction. Unfortunately for Matt, Elena and Stefan were deep in a hushed conversation, I leaned in and began to listen in to what they were saying.

"FYI our team sucks, they could use you." Elena whispered to Stefan, Matt heard her and I glanced over to him, a look of hurt spread across his face like wildfire.

"Can't." Stefan whispered back to her, "I'm a loner." He told her, I looked at my twin and saw her trying to stifle a giggle.

"Miss Gilbert." Mr Tanner called loudly, I jumped and looked up. Thanking my lucky stars that he was, for once, looking at Elena.

"Hmm?" Elena snapped her gaze from Stefan and looked up at the History teacher.

"Pearl Harbor?" He asked, I knew he was playing the oh-so-much-fun game of guess ths date of the event. I looked back at my twin, the fear entered her face as she tried to remember the date.

"Um..." She started.

"December 7th, 1941." Stefan answered for my twin, she turned to him and sent him a grateful gaze, Mr Tanner narrowed his eyes and turned to Stefan.

"Thank you, Miss_ Gilbert_." Mr Tanner mocked the boy, Stefan merely shrugged at the insult.

"Anytime." He replied smoothly. The whole class had stopped being bored and everyone's gaze had swiveled to Stefan and Tanner.

"Very well. The fall of the Berlin wall." The teacher asked the student, challenge shining in his eyes.

"1989. I'm good with dates." Stefan answered, the teacher frowned for a moment then nodded.

"Are you? How good? Keep it to the year. Civil Rights Act."

"1964."

"John F. Kennedy Assassination."

"1963."

"Martin Luther King."

"1968."

"Lincoln."

"1865."

"Roe vs Wade."

"1973."

"Brown vs Board."

"1954."

"The Battle Of Gettysburg."

"1863."

"Korean War."

"1950 to 1953."

"Ha! It ended in '52." Mr Tanner pointed a finger jubilantly at Stefan at winning the game, the whole class sighed in disappointment: we had watched oj in astonishment, silently wishing for Stefan to beat the jackass of the teacher. Mr Tanner turned towards the rest of us, grinning like a happy child.

"Uh, actually sir, it was '53." Stefan piped up, Mr Tanner's face fell and he turned to the student with narrowed eyes.

"Look it up, somebody. Quickly!" He cast his gaze around the class and everyone got their phones out.

"It was... 19... 53." A student near the front of the room chuckled, everyone watched silently as Mr Tanner quietly died inside due to the fact of losing his famous game to a student, I sighed in relief when the alarm sounded, signifying the end of the lesson.

Bonnie and I were stretching and limbering up for cheer practice, Bonnie gasped in excitement and I looked at her; she was looking over to my left over my shoulder. Elena was walking towards us looking nervous but determined. "Oh my God! You're here!" Bonnie squealed at my twin.

"Yep. I can't be sad girl forever," She looked over to me and I edged a smile at her, Elena and I had done cheerleading for years, she quit after our parents died while I kept it up, "The only way to get things back to the way they were are to do things that were. Oh, and you're coming to dinner tonight." Her gaze switched back to Bonnie and her dark eyes widened in surprise.

"I am?" Bonnie asked, tilting her head in confusion, Elena nodded.

"Yep. You, me, Cassie and Stefan. You have to give him a chance." Elena explained, I nodded, narrowing my eyes in admiration at my twin's clever plan to get Bonnie to like Stefan. I, for one, didn't mind Stefan; sure he was a little strange and kept staring at me sometimes, but Elena had been happy ever since she had met the dark haired mystery boy.

"Tonight's no good. Have you seen Caroline? I texted her like a hundred times." Bonnie shook her head, realising what Elena had done, I rolled my eyes and shook her head at her stubbornness.

"Don't change the subject, Bonnie Bennett! You're going to be there." Elena crossed her arms sternly at her best friend and stared her down until Bonnie finally caved.

"Fine. I'll go." Bonnie sighed in defeat, I smirked at her lack of willpower and stretched my leg up above my head and held it there for several seconds before lowering it, then raised my other leg and repeated the action.

"Cassie, do you always have to dress like this?" Elena asked me with a slightly irritated look.

"What's wrong with my cheer practice outfit?" I asked her, glancing at my denim shorts, vest top and tied checkered shirt over my chest. I lowered my leg and Elena raised an eyebrow.

"Are you kidding me? I wouldn't even classify those as shorts, Cassie! Where did you get them?" Elena pressed, I rolled my eyes at her and shrugged.

Bonnie and I led a few drills, trying to get Elena up to speed with everything during the warm up, she understood the basic steps, it was just the routine. After the fourth drill Bonnie turned to my twin and I. "Seriously, where is Caroline?" Bonnie asked us, I stretched out again, ignoring the question whilst Elena shrugged.

"I don't know. It's not like her." Elena replied, Bonnie nodded and walked over to her bag and got out her phone.

"I'll try her again." Bonnie said and began typing into the phone, I heard a car engine and looked around to see an expensive looking blue car drive up, Caroline was in the passenger seat, when the car stopped she turned and kissed...

"Damon..." I murmured to myself, when the two broke the kiss off I decided to show that I wasn't fazed, I ran and cartwheeled, ending in a jump and landed in the splits, the squad applauded and I smirked and got up glancing at Damon to see if he had seen. He was watching me from his car, dark sunglasses on, as I got up I untied my checkered shirt and threw it down and stretched and touched my toes, taking my hair out as I stood back up, satisfied, I walked over to Elena and Bonnie, Caroline hadn't reached us yet.

"That must be the mystery guy from The Grill." Bonnie told us, I frowned and felt hurt run through me: Damon had spoken to Caroline after I had left?

"That's not a mystery guy. That's Damon Salvatore." Elena told her friend through gritted teeth, glancing a look at me as she said this. My cheeks flushed a little as she said this: Elena still complained about my giggly and flirty behaviour towards the older Salvatore on the day we went to the Boarding House, I still couldn't understand why I had acted that way - I was ready to hit him one moment. Waving goodbye and smiling sweetly to him the next.

"I got the other Salvatore brother, hope you don't mind." Caroline smiled triumphantly when passed by us, she was carrying the stereo we used for work outs, she put it down on the ground and put it on. "Sorry I'm late girls, I was, uh, busy," she flashed me a smile and I felt the anger well up inside of me, I turned and walked over to where Damon was parked.

"Cassie, where are you going?!" Elena called out to me but I ignored her and continued to walk over to him.

"So... You and Caroline, huh?" I asked the dark haired Salvatore, he smirked as he looked me up and down but I ignored it.

"Yeah, just a little fling... But, hey, if I had known you were a cute little cheerleader I wouldn't have-."

"Stop, just stop right there. The night we met in the bar, Caroline said she also met a guy... I just can't believe it was you." I cut him off and glared at him, he took off his sunglasses and looked at me with a bored stare.

"Cassie, Cassie, Cassie," Damon shook his head and sighed, I frowned and put one hand on my hip, "We both know you still have a thing for me, that's why you're over here: you're jealous that Caroline got to me before you."

"Well trust me, Damon, I don't usually get jealous because most girls would back off on what I want, you see I just clearly didn't want you enough to stop Caroline." I smiled sweetly at him, he opened his mouth but I cut him off again, "So now we've established that I don't like you, why don't we take it further?" I leaned in and looked deep into his bright blue eyes, "Don't ever talk to me again, this thing that we have is over." I smiled as he frowned, I cartwheeled over to Elena and Bonnie and blew him a kiss before standing in line with the squad. Caroline decided to get over the fact that I was annoyed at her by taking it out on my twin, Elena wasn't that much affected - she walked over and enjoyed the show of Stefan trying out for the football team. After practice Caroline walked over to me, Bonnie and Elena but I blanked her and walked off home, declining a lift from Bonnie.

_Salvatore Boarding House (Stefan's__ P.O.V) _

I sighed happily when I finally walked into the house alone, today had gone fairly well, considering. Cassie had no idea that she had been attacked last night and neither did Vicki, Matt had started to be nicer to me and I think I had sent enough signals to the Lockwood boy to let him know that I don't need to be messed with. I made my way upstairs towards my bedroom to see...

"How were tryouts? Did you make the team? Very Emerson, the way you reveal your soul with so many..." I rushed forward and ripped my personal diary from my older brother's hands, "Adjectives." Damon finished with a smirk, looking up at me from my desk chair.

"What are you doing here?" I sighed and glared at my brother.

"I've come to apologize. I've been doing some thinking, some soul searching, and... I want us to start over. We need to put the past behind us. You're my little brother, and if you want to live a normal, happy human life, then I want that for you. Maybe I can do it, too. That I can learn to be a non-living living person. Maybe there's hope for both of us." I saw Damon's mouth quiver as he tried to keep a straight face, he failed.

"You know it doesn't have to be this way, Damon." I told him, placing my diary far away from my brother's hands.

"Of course it doesn't. I saw Cassie today, BTW. That means "by the way." She was at cheerleading practice. She looked so perky in her little short shorts." Damon smirked and I frowned and opened my mouth, but Damon cut me off. "Just, simmer down, I didn't even go near her - she came near me." He winked and I rolled my eyes.

"Because you keep getting in her head! She looked so confused about last night, I couldn't say anything..." I huffed, Damon merely shrugged and smiled.

"Oh don't worry about it, I am over her: she's playing hard to get and I'm going to play her game for the time being. But right now I have my own little cheerleader, that reminds me! I've got a date!" Damon stood up with a gran and rubbed his hands together, "I gotta run, sweaty palms! Wish me luck!" He smiled and got up from the chair, leaving the room without another word.

_Gilbert House (Cassie's __P.O.V) _

Elena, Bonnie and I were in the kitchen, Bonnie and I were watching my sister get out bowls from cupboards, Bonnie was trying to convince us that she was psychic. "You explain it. Last night, I'm watching Nine-o, a commercial break comes on and I'm like, 'I bet it's that phone commercial' and sure enough, it's that guy and the girl with the bench, he flies to Paris and he flies back, they take a picture." Bonnie's hand made a phone and her eyes widened as she tried to prove it to us, Elena and I shared a look and I chuckled and shook my head.

"Problem is though, Bon, that commercial is on a constant loop." I pointed out and Elena nodded in agreement, Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Well, how about this? Today I'm obsessed with numbers, three numbers. Eight, fourteen and twenty-two. How weird is that?" Bonnie countered, I sighed and ignored her argument.

"You take this one, I'm going upstairs to get ready for tonight." I told my twin and left the kitchen without another word, going upstairs to my bedroom.

_Caroline's House (Damon's P.O.V) _

I watched as the compelled blonde girl who was close with Cassie choose an outfit for tonight, she was babbling on about how Cassie had ignored her after cheerleader practice today. I had nodded and muttered in low agreement at the correct points. When Caroline had walked into the bathroom saying that she'd be half an hour until she was ready, I soon got bored and decided to play around with Cassie, I sped over to her house and crouched in the tree outside her window. Her bedroom light was on and she was looking into her wardrobe rifling through various outfits, she decided on a black short skirted cocktail dress. She started undressing from the clothes that she was wearing for school and turned and looked straight at me, I saw her eyes widen in shock and I smirked, when she blinked I vanished off into the night back to Caroline's house - she wouldn't even know I had left by the time I had returned to her.

_Gilbert House (Cassie's P.O.V)_

I was looking through my wardrobe pushing the rails of skirts and dresses aside, looking for something good enough to wear for tonight - I had to be the best dressed for tonight. I smiled smugly to myself when I saw a short black cocktail dress, it was definitely something I'd be expected to wear, I was Cassie Gilbert after all. As soon as I had picked out the outfit I started to take off the clothes I was currently wearing, as soon as I was stripped down I felt the cold feeling of someone watching me, on instinct I turned around and caught eyes with Damon Salvatore, my eyes widened slightly and he smirked, typical Damon. I blinked, just to make sure it was real and then he was gone from the tree, I frowned and walked over to the window, looking down and seeing nothing but the garden in the dark. Shivering a little, I shut the curtains and continued to get ready, my eyes darting to the windows every now and then. Elena and Bonnie called me downstairs and I went down, Elena raised her eyebrows at my dress and I smiled at her. She sighed and walked back into the kitchen and my smile widened into a wide grin, Bonnie rolled her eyes and followed Elena into the kitchen._ This was going to be a long night._


	6. Friday Night Bites Part 2

**Author's:**** Note: Thankyou so much for all the views! Also please go over and search up the Fanfiction author heytay1. Their stories are so good, especially the one with Charlie Salvatore! #Charzo4eva**

**Cas****sie Gilbert **

**Chapter 03 - Friday Night Bites Part 2**

_Gilbert House (Cassie's P.O.V)_

Elena, Bonnie, Stefan and I were sat eating the dinner Elena had 'cooked' for us, and as dinners went, this was one of the most awkward meals ever. My twin put her fork down and swallowed her food and she turned to Stefan. "Did Tanner give you a hard time today?" Elena asked him, Stefan looked at her and shook his head.

"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right." Stefan smiled, Elena nodded and smiled back, whilst Bonnie and I stayed silent.

"Bonnie, you should have seen Stefan today, Tyler threw a ball right at him and-."

"Yeah, I heard." Bonnie interrupted Elena and I frowned, my foot lashed out and connected with the girl's shin and she winced and glared at me.

"Be nice." I mouthed and then turned to Elena and smiled, before getting up and leaving to the kitchen for a glass of water. I poured myself a glass of tap water and leant against the kitchen counter, smirking at the empty pre-prepared food bags that my sister had shamelessly used for tonight. The doorbell rang and I sighed and frowned at the clock: it was almost 9 o'clock, who could that be? I met Elena in the hallway and saw that we shared the same confused look.

"I'll get it." I told her and opened the door, jumping a little when I saw Caroline standing there with her arms out wide. "Caroline." I greeted flatly.

"Surprise! Bonnie said you were doing dinner, so we bought dessert!" Caroline smiled and held out a wrapped dessert bowl but I didn't respond with one.

"Wait a minute... We?" I frowned at the blonde and gestured to the fact that only she was standing in the doorway.

"Hope you don't mind." A familair voice drawled and I instantly stiffened as I recognised it, Damon Salvatore stepped out from the shadows and I narrowed my eyes slightly.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan's voice sounded behind me, I turned slightly and saw the deep hatred I had seen in his eyes yesterday at the Boarding House.

"Waiting for Cassie and Elena to invite me in." Damon smirked at his brother, I rolled my eyes and scoffed, stepping back from the doorway and behind Elena.

"There is no way in hell am I going to let you ins-."

"Oh yeah, you can com-."

"No, no, no. He can't, uh, he can't stay. Can you, Damon?" I silently thanked Stefan for cutting my sister off, my eyes bored into the back of her head in surprise: it was rare for my twin to cut me off like that. To my annoyance Caroline stepped through the door and passed us, looking back at her 'boyfriend'.

"Get in here." Caroline laughed lightly, I tried to resist the urge to look round and silence the girl with a glare, I failed, I shot daggers at her and she stayed quiet and walked off into the kitchen.

"We're just... Finishing up." Stefan tried to my twin and I couldn't help but nod in agreement with him, we both looked at Elena almost pleadingly but she ignored us.

"It's fine, just come on in." Elena told Damon, he smirked and sighed as he stepped over the threshold, shooting a smug look towards his brother. I frowned and sighed, walking back into the dining table.

_Later (Cassie's P.O.V) _

"I cannot believe that Mr Tanner let you on the team. Tyler must be seething, but good for you go for it." Caroline laughed and took a sip of her drink, we had moved into the living room and I had made sure to sit as far away from Damon and Caroline as possible, I was sat next to Bonnie on the two-seater sofa on the far side of the room.

"That's what I always tell him, you have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you, you have to go get it." Damon smiled slightly as he said this and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him.

"Yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today. It's only because you missed summer camp," Caroline finished her drink and glanced at me, "I mean, Cassie went to summer camp but Elena didn't... God I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines." She sighed and sat back in her chair, her fingers teasing the ends of her scarf that was tied around her neck.

"I'll work with her, she'll get it." Bonnie piped up, but Caroline didn't pay attention to her.

"I guess we can put her in the back..." Caroline continued, I scoffed quietly at her neurosis.

"You know, you don't seem like the cheerleading type, Cassie." Damon chimed in, I looked up at him and put on my mean smile.

"With your IQ, I don't think you would understand." I told him, my tone dripping with sarcasm. Stefan burst out laughing, Damon narrowed his eyes and turned his icy gaze on his brother and Stefan immediately quietened down.

"Cassie only doesn't seem the cheerleading type because her parents died. Yeah, I mean, she's just going through a 'blah' phase. She used to be way more fun... And I say that with complete sensitivity..." Caroline trailed off when I shot her an icy look of my own, Elena and I looked at eachother and I could practically feel the awkwardness seep into the atmosphere.

"Well, I'm sorry, Cassie, and Elena of course. I know what it's like to lose both your parents, in fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die." Damon spoke up and looked at me with near sympathy in his blue eyes, I nodded once.

"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon." Stefan spoke up with a hard stare at his older brother.

"Oh, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry, the last thing I wanted to do was bring her up." Damon said quickly, a flash went through his eyes and a smirk creeped onto his face as he saw his brother react. Elema and I shared another look, she suddenly snapped into action.

"Right. On that note I think it's time to clean up in the kitchen," Elena stood up and began to collect the cups from Stefan, Bonnie and herself. She stopped at the doorway and looked at me, "Cassie, come help me. Bring the rest of the cups." She told me, I sighed and nodded, getting up and taking Caroline's cup. I didn't make contact with her and braced myself when I had to take Damon's empty glass, when my hand mobed towards it he pulled it back at the last second, I sighed and glared at him.

"How old are you, five?" I asked him.

"Actually I'm six." Damon smirked and I rolled my eyes and tried to go for the glass again, but he moved it away from me.

"Damon." Stefan warned, the older brother sighed and held out the glass.

"Here."

"Forget it." I sighed and walked from the room and into the kitchen, Elena was loading the dishwasher when I walked in, she turned and gave me a stern look, much to my utter surprise. "What?"

"You're being rude!" My twin whispered exasperatedly, I sighed and put the cups into the dishwasher and leant against the counter.

"Well, that guy is a dick." I moaned and pulled a face, Elena sighed and narrowed her eyes at me.

"No he's not! You and Stefan just make him out to be... Something he's not." Elena shrugged, my mouth opened in agape and I just shook my head in frustration and rolled my eyes. Elena crossed her arms and we stayed still, staring at eachother in cold silence, Bonnie came in and stopped upon us.

"Oh! Sorry was I interrupting something?" Bonnie asked quietly, Elena just shook her head.

"Oh no, it's fine. Come upstairs and you can tell me your thoughts on tonight." Elena smiled warmly at Bonnie and took her hand and led her out the room, I sighed and started wiping down the surfaces and hunting around for the dishwasher cleaner.

"One more." A voice sounded behind me and I stiffened and turned, Damon stood there holding out his empty glass.

"Oh." I said stonily and went to take it from him, he didn't snatch it back this time. Before my fingers had safely closed around the glass it suddenly dropped from my hold, faster than my eye could follow Damon's hand swiped down and caught the glass. I gasped in surprise and couldn't help but give an impressed smile. "Nice save." I told him with a smirk, he smirked back and shrugged.

"I like you-."

"I know, everyone does." I smirked as I turned the dish on, my back towards Damon, I head him chuckle and turned to see him blink in surprise.

"Anyway, you know how to laugh, even Stefan laughed earlier - which is something I haven't seen in a long time." Damon continued, I tilted my head in confusion at what he was trying to get at.

"Earlier did you mean... Katherine?" I asked him, boring my eyes into his.

"Mm-hmm." Damon smirk dropped for a moment and I felt like I was seeing a completely different side to the mysterious dark Salvatore.

"How did she die?" I asked carefully, not trying to be too forward.

"In a fire... A tragic fire." Damon muttered softly.

"Recently?" I asked, dropping my mean girl act and touching his arm in sympathy.

"It seems like it was yesterday." Damon's eyes shifted from my face and stared at something past my shoulder.

"What was she like?" I asked him in a quiet voice, Damon's gaze snapped back to mine, he suddenly reached out and played with a lock of my dark, wavy hair, I didn't slap his hand away, I just stayed still and looked up into the blue eyes.

"She was beautiful. A lot like you in that department... She was also very complicated and selfish and at times not very kind, but very sexy and seductive." He let go of my hair and I had to hold back a sigh of jealousy, I brushed my hair in front of my face slightly as I felt a tell-tale blush seep through my cheeks.

"So which one of you dated her first?" I asked, my mean girl act snapping back up again, I stepped away from Damon with a knowing and smug smirk.

"Nicely deduced, ask Stefan. I'm sure his answer differs from mine... I'd quit cheerleading if I were you."

"Why do you say that?" I asked, caught out by his last remark.

"Oh, I saw you at practise, even though you're good, you looked miserable." Damon shrugged, I frowned: remembering why I was so miserable in the first place.

"Because a certain someone decided to become fuckbuddies with my best friend." I bit out and narrowed my eyes at him. "But... Yeah, I used to love it. It was fun, I'm good at it... But things seem different this year, everything that used to matter to me just doesn't anymore, my priorities just don't... Exist anymore." I admitted quietly, my dark eyes looking at Damon with a rare sadness that I didn't show anyone.

"So don't let it, like cheerleading: quit, move on. Problem solved, ta-da." Damon shrugged in an attempt at nonchalance but I frowned and shook my head at him.

"Somethings could matter again." I said quietly, knowing I wasn't talking about cheerleading anymore. "I'm sorry, about Katherine. You lost her too." I sympathised, Damon looked at me with interest.

_Damon's P.O.V _

I walked into the living room where Caroline and Stefan were in deep conversation, no doubt my younger brother was inquiring about Caroline's scarf. "What are you two kids talking about?" I asked the two teens, a smirk plastered on my face as I joined them.

"I was just commenting on her scarf." Stefan told me, giving me a knowing look; he knew I had been feeding off Caroline. What can he do about it?

"Hey, you know, Cassie is finishing up the dishes. Why don't you go see if you can help?" I looked over to Caroline, faking the sweet boyfriend act.

"Does it look like I do dishes?" Caroline scoffed and flicked her hair, I knew what she was doing: she was acting like Cassie did... Of course the real Cassie was much more appealing. The way this blonde girl did it was just annoying.

"For me?" I smile wider and leaned in closer to her.

"Hmm... I don't think so." Caroline shook her head again and turned back to Stefan, Stefan smiled politely at her. I sighed and narrowed my eyes, she turned back to me and I bored my eyes deep into hers and compelled her.

"Go see if Cassie needs help in the kitchen." I told her, I watched in satisfaction as Caroline's features went blank for a moment, as soon as I broke off the stare she snapped back into cheeriness.

"You know what? I'm going to see if Cassie needs help in the kitchen." Caroline suggested, I smiled at her idea and she left the room without another word. I looked over to see my brother eyeing me with one of his more disgusted looks.

"They are people, Damon. She's not a puppet, she doesn't exist for your amusement, for you to feed on whenever you want to." Stefan chided me, I smiled at his moralities and shook my head as I sat in Caroline's seat, rolling my eyes.

"Sure she does - they all do, they're whatever I want them to be. They're mine for the taking." I told him, holding my hand out and snapping it shut as if I was literally catching something.

"All right, you've had your fun. You used Caroline, you got to meet Elena and Cassie - who you then fed from and messed with, good for you. Now it's time for you to go." Stefan glared his olive green eyes at me, I smirked and licked my lips, remembering the taste of Cassie's blood.

"That's not a problem. Because... I've been invited in, and I'll come back tomorrow night and the following night and I'll do with my oh-so-compelable new cheerleader whatever I want to do. Because that is what is normal to me." I gave my brother a wolfish smile and showed teeth, making Stefan visibly swallow in fear.

_Cassie's P.O.V_

_"Tonight wasn't so bad. I had fun." Caroline told me as I walked her out the door, I nodded._

_"Great." I told her, my mouth set into a straight line, she looked back at me and sighed._

_"I'm sorry, ok! Isn't that what you want me to say? I'm sorry I've been insensitive and I'm sorry I took Damon from you." Caroline apologized, I crossed my arms and frowned at her, shifting my weight to my other foot._

_"Caroline, Damon and I aren't even a thing. We will never be a thing. He's all yours." I told her firmly._

_"But you want to be with him?" Caroline dared to ask, I bit my lip as Caroline's comment threw me off. She looked at me closely and I saw a smile play on her lips: she had chipped the surface of my hard exterior and she knew it. I sighed and ran a hand threw my hair in frustration._

_"Yes? No? I don't know, Caroline. What does it matter anyway? You have him now. And... I guess I forgive you, you can't help but be insensitive because that's just you I guess." I sighed, Caroline stayed still for a moment as she absorbed this. Then she ran up to me and squealed in my ear, I chuckled and blinked. Then it was different, Caroline's soft skin had been replaced by leather, her perfume had been replaced by a more intoxicating aroma. I stiffened and tried to get out of the hug, but arms wrapped around me and kept me in place, I screamed when I looked up into Damon's face, his mouth was curled into a predatory smirk and a glint was in his ice blue eyes. I watched in horror as his eyes darkened into scarlet, veins pulsed under his demonic eyes. When he opened his mouth I saw sharp fangs, I struggled and tried to get him to release me from his grip, but I was trapped. I screamed as he bent down and bit into my neck and..._

I gasped and woke up with a start, my hand reaching up to my neck and feeling for something, anything. I sighed in relief when I didn't find anything out of place, I groaned and got up from bed with as little effort as possible, sleepily padding over to my floor length mirror, I checked myself more thoroughly and my reflection smiled in assurance back at me. I saw something on the tree outside my window and gasped and whirled, a black crow was perched on the tree and watching me with beady, beady eyes.

The Football Match (Cassie's P.O.V)

Caroline, Bonnie and I were stood with the rest of the cheer squad, Elena had decided to quit cheerleading. Damon's advice went around in my head as I looked down at my cheerleading outfit, I shook my head and looked up as Mr Tanner stood on the podium for his speech. "Wait, wait, wait, Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait. Let's be honest here. In the past, we used to let other teams come into our town and roll right over us!" He rallied the crowd of students, I booed along with the rest of them, feeling like a bit of an idiot. "But that is about to change. We've got some great new talent tonight starting on the offense, and I'm gonna tell you right now, it has been a long time since I have seen a kid like this with hands like these. Let's give it up for Stefan Salvatore!" He applauded and I cheered along with the crowd, I looked over at the football star to see him bowing his head in embarrassment.

"Yeah! Go Stefan!" I shouted, he looked up and I grinned and gave him a wink, he grinned back. My gaze shifted and I saw Tyler talking to Matt, my eyes narrowed a little but I shook it off, turning my attention back to Mr Tanner.

"That have been waiting for us to put a check in the win column, I have only one thing to say to you... Your Timberwolves are hungry." I smirked at the cheesiness but cheered again.

"Jeremy no!" I heard my twin cry out and I immediately looked around for her, I spotted a crowd gathering on the edge of the field. Jeremy, Tyler and Stefan were in the middle of the gathered students, Jeremy's face was covered with what looked like...

"Jeremy!" I cried out and sprinted towards him, the crowd parted to let me through, once I reached him I pulled him into a tight hug. "Oh my God, your bleeding, your hurt. Are you ok?" I released him and checked my brother for any serious injuries. I could smell the alcohol consumption on him but for once I didn't mind.

"I'm fine. Go away, Cassie." Jeremy muttered, I frowned and turned to Tyler and stalked over to him.

"Hey, dickhead." I called, Jeremy's manner towards me fueling my anger, Tyler looked up and I could see the grin on him face fall. "Do you feel better now? Beating my brother for no reason? Was it good to blow off that steam?" I glared at him, Tyler merely rolled his eyes at me, which made me rage even more.

"You don't know what your on about, Cassie. Go back to your little cheerleading." He dismissed me, I didn't stop walking until I was all up in his face.

"I will not do what you tell me to do, Tyler. Am I in your personal space? Are you gonna hit me until my face is all beaten like my brother's?" I screamed in his fave, the crowd was still there, watching me and Tyler face off. Tyler himself looked more embarrassed than anything else.

"Just leave it, Cassie. Your getting involved in something that doesn't involve you." Tyler tried to walk past me but I blocked his path, a hand came to my shoulder and I turned to see Stefan.

"Leave it, Cassie. He's not worth it." Stefan advised me, but I was too riled up to be able to listen to reason.

"He sure as hell is!" I shook off the hand and glared daggers at my ex, "So why'd you do it huh, Ty? Was it an ego boost? Do you feel like the man now?" I asked him again, Tyler was now glaring down at me, he leaned in menacingly.

"Like I said before, you don't know what your on about, you little slut. Go back to your little cheerleading club and pretend like your over me, though we all know when we broke up I hurt you deep." Tyler told me, the crowd hushed over this and I felt a flush through my cheeks at being called a slut. I whipped my hand back and punched him, my fist came into contact with his nose and blood pumped out of it, Tyler moaned in pain and fell to his knees. I stood over him and he looked up at me with wide, surprised eyes.

"Now you listen, and you listen good. I am_ not _a slut, I am so over you that you have no idea how happy I am that I dumped you." I raised my voice so the crowd could hear, Tyler glared at me in humiliation and I smiled sweetly at him and turned away. I walked all of two steps until two powerful hands pushed at my back, I shot forward and cried out as I fell, there was a brief flash of pain across my cheek but I was otherwise ok. I turned my head and glared at my ex as Matt led him away, Stefan walked over and held out his hand, I took it and he helped me up.

"Are you ok?" Stefan asked me, his green eyes tinged with worry.

"Yeah I'm fine, it's good..." I told him, he nodded and I checked myself more thoroughly. "Oh wow." I said when my fingers went to the pain on my cheek, it had been cut on a broken bottle of beer that lay on the ground and now had a long gash with blood seeping from it. Stefan jumped back a little and I saw something happen to his face. "Hey, are you alright? Your face..." I told him, Stefan's darkening eyes darted from my cheek to me.

"Oh, um... I'm fine," Stefan stated firmly as he turned his head away, concealing his features from me, "You should go get a bandage for that." He advised before walking away quickly.

Caroline had given me the keys to her car and told me that she had a first aid kit in the boot, I was walking through the well lit car park, I came to a Volvo and started to blip the car unlocked, I heard a sound but I couldn't see the lights of the car blinking to tell me the car was unlocked. "You know, if you use Volkswagen keys to try and unlock a Volvo, nine times out of ten it won't work." A voice sounded behind me, I turned and came face to face with the gorgeous Damon Salvatore.

"What are you talking about? This is a Volkswagen isn't it?" I gestured to the blue car, Damon chuckled and walked closer to me, his hands reached out and grasped hold of my shoulders and he turned me to face a silver car.

"Now try it." His voice whispered in my ear, I shivered slightly and pressed the car blip again, this time the car flashed and I grinned in triumph. I started walking towards the car, the cold air hit my cut cheek and I hissed in pain, suddenly I stumbled a little. My foot came into contact with something and I cried out as I tripped, but Damon's hands wrapped around my waist and he held me upright, he turned me around to face him again. "Hey Kath- Cassie, are you ok?" He asked me, I sighed and faked a glare at him.

"I'm fine. You can let go of me now by the way." I told him curtly, trying to keep my voice as resentful as possible, Damon simply gave me his smirk that made me weak at the knees.

"I'd rather keep it like this, actually." He told me, tightening his grip on my waist for emphasis. I rolled my eyes and faked a smile at him, he smiled back. I thrust my knee up into his crotch and he groaned and doubled over, his hold on me suddenly disappeared, and I found myself fighting down the urge to try and get it back, I stood over Damon with one hand on my hip, the fake smile on my face.

"That's better." I smirked and walked past Damon and opened the boot to the silver car, opening it and looking for Caroline's first aid kit. No matter how much I hated her right now, I could always count on her to be prepared. I sighed quietly to myself as I opened the kit and pulled out some wipes and a healing cream, I turned and gasped to see Damon stood directly behind me, not making any sound. He chuckled to himself and I rolled my eyes at his childishness and glared as he snatched the wipes and cream tube from my grip. "Hey!" I exclaimed, crossing my arms over my chest and raising an eyebrow, trying not to cringe as I felt a rivulet of blood drip from my cheek, Damon chuckled again and readied the wipe in his grip. Before the blood tear could fall from my jaw Damon caught it and skillfully wiped it away, I raised an eyebrow as he stared at the red smear on the wipe. "What's wrong? Are you squeamish?" I couldn't help the teasing smile spread across my face as I said this, Damon tore his piercing blue gaze away from the wipe and back to me.

"Far from it." He told me with a little smile, I frowned in confusion and dismissed the comment.

"I can do it myself, you know." I complained as Damon moved his hand back to nurse my cheek.

"Yeah, well you won't let me hold you. So I think I'm at least allowed to tend to your cut." Damon shrugged.

"I'm not yours, remember? Your with Caroline." I reminded him, but I didn't make another move against him as he cleaned the cut on my cheek, I winced slightly.

"Did that hurt?"

"Yeah."

"Good to know your not just made of stone, like you pretend to." Damon said, not meeting my eyes as he opened the tube of healing cream.

"Who's pretending?" I asked, reaching out and taking the cream before putting some on my finger, Damon looked into my eyes carefully as I closed the tube, being careful to avoid spreading the cream anywhere other than my finger. I dabbed it on my cut and took care to cover the entirety of the long gash. Damon was opening a plaster by the time I had finished, I sagged and he grinned at me.

"We don't want it getting dirty or anything, just hold still." Damon ordered, I sighed and narrowed my eyes at him as he placed the clear plaster on my cheek. "There." He whispered, his hand lightly stroking my cheek. I stayed quiet and gazed up into those blue blue eyes, Damon leaned in and I parted my lips slightly as his mouth reached mine, I didn't move for a moment but then closed my eyes and started kissing him back, something sparked in my mind and my heartbeat was pounding in my ears. Our kiss was interrupted by a phone ringing, Damon sighed as he pulled away and got his phone from his pocket, I came back to my senses a little as I saw the contact ID.

"You should get that, it'll be Caroline wondering where you are." I said to him quietly and walked away, not bothering to lock the car.

_Stefan's P.O.V_

"Hey! You gonna be able to play?" Matt's voice caused me to turn around, I smiled at his needless worry and nodded.

"Oh, yeah, I'm good." I confirmed, Matt broke into a grin that lasted a few moments before it faded.

"Uh, what you did back there... you had Jeremy's back." The boy looked thankful and I wondered if he only cared for Jeremy because he wanted Elena back, but something told me that Matt was the guy who looked out for everybody.

"Ah, he's a messed-up kid. Somebody's gotta look out for him." I shrugged.

"I know," Matt looked away awkwardly for a moment before turning his bright boy-blue gaze back to me, "This week at practice I was a dick." Matt admitted, I paused in surprise, amazed that he would admit it to me of all people: especially after all the time I had spent with Elena.

"Had your reasons." I shrugged to the boy again.

"No excuse." Matt shook his head in disagreement and held out his hand, I firmly shook it in forgiveness, "Good luck tonight, we're lucky to have you." Matt smiled before walking away, I gazed after the boy in wonder. Only to be interrupted by slow, sarcastic claps, I turned and saw my older brother dressed in his black leather jacket and dark jeans, his trademark smirk painted on his face.

"Isn't that nice? Stefan joins the team makes a friend. It's all rah rah go team, yeah!" Damon chuckled to himself and stepped away from the wall he was leant against, stepping towards me with slow, purposeful steps. He stopped when he was several steps away from me, the shadows from the moonlight cast shadows across my brothers face, giving him a sinister air that he really didn't need.

"Not tonight. I'm done with you." I sighed irritably and sent him a glare.

"I saw Cassie earlier in her cheerleading outfit, she had cut her cheek and... what can I say? I just couldn't resist." Damon's smirk grew wider and I sagged: I had given Elena a necklace laced with vervain to protect her, but I hadn't given Cassie anything.

"You didn't?" I demanded, looking pleadingly towards my brother.

"Nah, although if she looks a little... confused when you next see her, I'm sure I can leave you to speculate on what I did." Damon's eyes flashed as he said this and it suddenly dawned on me that he was lying.

"You're lying, Damon. You haven't hurt her." I told him confidently, Damon raised his eyebrows and tilted his head.

"Haven't I?"

"No you haven't, because deep down inside, there is a part of you that feels for her. I was worried that you had no humanity left inside of you, that you may have actually become the monster that you pretend to be." I continued, seeing Damon's eyebrows pull together in a slight frown and I knew that I was right.

"Who's pretending?"

"Then kill me." I crossed my arms and smiled slightly.

"Well, I'm tempted." Damon pulled a face and acted like he was considering it, but I knew he wasn't.

"No, you're not. You've had lifetimes to do it, and yet, here I am. I'm still alive. And there you are. You're still haunting me. After 145 years. Katherine is dead. And you hate me because you loved her, and you torture me because you still do. And that, my brother, is your humanity." I told him, Damon's smirk faded into an outraged look, but I didn't care.

"Salvatore! What the hell? We've got a game to play!" I recognized Mr Tanner's voice behind me but I didn't turn, I saw Damon's eyes glance over my shoulder where Mr Tanner undoubtedly was and then flash back to me.

"If that's my humanity, then what's this?" Damon asked, iI opened my mouth but he was gone, he sped over to Mr Tanner and savagely tore into the teacher's throat, angrily snarling and slurping at his neck.

"No!" I exclaimed, watching in disbelief as Mr Tanner let out his final cries before slumping to the floor, dead. I looked back up to my brother, his mouth was dripping with blood, veins pulsed under his crimson eyes, his fangs were stained with dark scarlet.

"Anyone. Anytime. Any place." Damon stated, before speeding off into the night.

_Later - Stefan's P.O.V_

I was quietly comforting Elena whilst we watched Mr Tanner's covered corpse be stretchered off into the ambulance, police were asking nearby students if they saw anything, everyone was convinced that it was an animal attack. If only they knew... "What kind of animal could be doing all this? Why would it come out of the woods and attack someone in the middle of town?" Elena asked me, I looked down at her and gave a shrug.

"I don't know. I don't know." I answered, rubbing her back soothingly. Through the crowd I saw Cassie walking alone, which was unusual because she was normally surrounded by crowds of students. She looked fine, but a sense of dread slithered through me when I saw the slightly dazed look on her face, I gave an inward sigh: Damon wasn't lying, he had gotten to Cassie, and he wasn't going to let go until something bad happened to her. I was sure of it.


	7. Family Ties Part 1

**Cassie Gilbert **

**Chapter 04 - Family Ties Part 1**

_Cassie's P.O.V_

I didn't get much sleep last night. I had woken up to the feel of something stroking my cheek, but when I had opened my eyes there was no one there; and I couldn't stop thinking about the kiss Damon and I shared. I had dressed in a black dress with a flowered pattern on it and had put on makeup. The first aid Damon and I had applied on my cut last night had done the trick: the cut had faded into nothing more than a faded pink line that makeup could easily cover. After I was ready for school I descended down the stairs to find Jenna in the kitchen talking to herself. "Scum ball, Scum bucket." She was saying in a slightly aggressive tone, I frowned at her as I reached for the coffee pot and a cup.

"Who are you talking to?" I asked my aunt in a concerned tone.

"Him." Jenna pointed violently to the tv screen, it showed the Mystic Falls news report on the animal attacks that had frequented the town. The reporter looked to be in his mid to late twenties, with a cute smirk and cute eyes... Everything about him was just... Cute. I frowned and looked at Jenna, then back at the reporter.

"The news guy?" I asked my aunt a little doubtfully.

"Also know as Logan 'Scum' Fell. Did your mum ever tell you why I moved away when I was your age?" Jenna explained, it suddenly dawned on me and I burst out laughing at her.

"Oh no way! You and him?" I giggled and tilted my head as I looked back at the tv, "He's kinda cute, I get it." I shrugged and went back to my coffee making, Jenna hit me on my arm.

"Oh stop it, Cassie." My aunt scolded, but I smirked when I detected the smile in her tone.

"Jenna we both know the only reason we get along is because I am like you and Elena is like Mum: Elena is all soft and caring and lovey-dovey," I shuddered and pulled a face, Jenna smiled and put a hand on her hip with a raised eyebrow, "Whilst I am the fun, party loving-."

"Narcissistic? Mean? Bitchy? Annoying?" Jenna finished for me with a roll of her eyes, I shrugged and narrowed my eyes as I took a sip of my coffee. Elena walked in holding a tray of objects, she smiled a greeting at us as she put the tray down on the counter.

"He's cute." Elena said with a glance at the tv, I smiled in triumph at Jenna and she rolled her eyes and turned off the tv.

"He is not cute. There is nothing cute about him." Jenna moaned and I chuckled, Elena frowned in confusion but shrugged it off as she poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot. "What are you doing with that?" She asked Elena and nodded her head to the tray on the counter top, I narrowed my eyes as I recognised some of Mum's old stuff.

"I went yesterday and got it from the safe deposit box, Mum told Mrs Lockwood that she would loan it to the Founder's council for their heritage display." Elena explained, Jenna nodded in understanding and picked up an old ring.

"Is this Grandma Beth's wedding ring?" She asked, looking at the ring with astonishment reflecting in her eyes, I rolled my eyes at the dullness of it all and walked from the room with a groan. I passed Jeremy on the way out but didn't acknowledge him; I was still annoyed at the way he had spoken to me last night. There was a knock at the door and I sighed and opened it, I was met with lips crashing into mine and I made a cry of surprise and reached up and slapped my hand upwards. My hand hit someone and the kiss was cut off.

"Elena! What?!" Stefan cried out, I rolled my eyes and placed my hands on my hips.

"I am not Elena, Stefan!" I rolled my eyes and Stefan's eyes widened in shock and he grabbed my shoulders firmly.

"Cassie? Oh my god I'm so sorry!" Stefan gushed, I sighed and studied my delicately long fingernails.

"Yeah yeah yeah, listen: I'm going to go upstairs and pretend this never happened." I didn't wait for his reply and walked up the stairs to paint my nails for tonight.

**_Later_**

The doorbell rang and I ran downstairs to answer, careful not to smudge my nails. Jeremy beat me to the door and opened it just as I reached the hallway, I glimpsed Tyler's face before Jeremy tried shutting the door again. Unfortunately for my brother Tyler held it open. "I'm here for my mum. I'm supposed to pick up a box of stuff." He explained, looking at me, I shrugged with disinterest as my sister came up behind me hold the box she had earlier.

"Right here," Elena said, handing Tyler the box, "Please be careful." She pleaded as Tyler hefted the box under one arm.

"Yeah, be careful with it, dick." Jeremy piped up, I smirked at my little brother, even though he was rude to me last night, seeing him insult my ex like that put me in a good mood.

"Hey! Not now, ok, guys? Please?" Elena sent a scolding look to Jeremy and he rolled his eyes.

"I'm fine, he's just being a punk." Tyler glared at my little brother and I let out a sigh.

"Fighting with a 15 year old. Mature, Ty." I drawled, my tone dripping with sarcasm.

"And I got your punk." Jeremy added, Tyler glared at the both of us and opened his mouth to say something, but my sister beat him to it.

"Look, Tyler, maybe you should go. Tell your mum that I'll see her tonight." Elena quickly told him, Tyler nodded at my twin and started to turn away, but then he turned back and looked at Jeremy.

"Hey. Would it make a difference if I told you I actually like Vicki?" Tyler asked my brother, Jeremy tensed a little at the mention of Vicki.

"Not even if you meant it." Jeremy told the older boy and shut the door quickly, he didn't look at me or Elena and ran up the stairs into his bedroom, the door slammed shut and Elena and I listened as the rattles echoed through the house.

"Wow." I said, widening my eyes at Elena, she nodded in agreement.

"I like your nails." Elena told me, her eyes eyeing my painted fingers.

"Thanks. Where's Stefan?" I asked her, my mind casting back to where he had mistaken me for my twin.

"He left about twenty minutes ago, he's taking me to the Founder's party tonight." Elena smiled, her eyes lighting up a little.

"Ooooh, Elena and Stefan, sitting in the tree: K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" I giggled, my tone teasing. Elena rolled her eyes and hit me lightly on the shoulder.

"Oh, shut up, Cassie. So who are you going with tonight?" Elena asked, a grin fixed on her face.

"Oh, umm... me, myself and I." I shrugged.

"Why don't you go with Caroline?" Elena asked.

"I'm still mad at her." I frowned, the guilty kiss came rushing back and I bit my lip.

"Oh. Cassie... I don't understand why you're so annoyed about Caroline and Damon together." Elena said quietly, I froze and stared at a spot on the floorboard.

"It's just... Recently Caroline has become more insensitive, annoying and insufferable than ever and Damon is confusing me, it's like he's watching me. All the time. Elena, last night when I was getting changed for the dinner I... I swear I saw him outside my window." I felt silly just saying it aloud, but I knew what I saw, Elena frowned and stayed quiet for a moment.

"No, it's not possible, Cassie. You're sounding like a crazy person. And Caroline is just being her usual self, I mean - can't you see how happy she is with Damon?" Elena shook her head at me and shot a concerned look in my direction.

"No. I can't." I murmered, we were both quiet for a few seconds until the doorbell rang, making me jump. Elena answered it and Bonnie's beaming face walked into the hallway.

"Hey guys! Sorry if I'm a little late or anything." Bonnie greeted, I smiled at her and gave Elena a look as she shut the door.

"Bonnie, what are you doing here?" I asked the wavy-haired brunette.

"I'm helping Elena get ready for her date tonight, then she's gonna help me get ready." Bonnie explained, I nodded in understanding.

"That sounds fun, I'll get the nail box for you." I offered, leaving the two girls in the hallway.

_**Later**_

"Delicate flower or naughty vixen?" Bonnie called to Elena, she was studying the nail polishes I had bought up to Elena's room earlier, I was sat cross-legged on my twin's bed watching as she rifled through her wardrobe looking for a dress that she thought was adequate.

"Tough call, can we mix them?" Elena asked, she stopped sifting through clothes and stopped at a cute peach and gold dress.

"Look at you, getting all pretty for your date. You seem happy-ish." Bonnie observed as she set the nail polishes onto Elena's vanity table.

"I am...ish. Tonight's going to be a good night. But don't let that stop you from telling me whatever it is you wanted to tell me as soon as you walked in the door." Elena held the dress up to her body and gave Bonnie a look, the girl's eyes widened but she shook her head all the same.

"What if I tell you in the morning? I don't want to ruin the night."

"Bonnie, out with it. Otherwise Elena's gonna be asking all night." I told her.

"Ok, but it has to go in the vault, because Caroline will kill me if it gets back to Damon that she squealed. Apparently Stefan has a very interesting back story." Bonnie told us, I looked up at the mention of Damon and leaned in.

"What back story?" I asked the girl, she opened her mouth to say but Elena cut her off.

"Yeah, I'm not interested in what _Caroline _said." Elena scoffed behind me.

"Shhh!" I told her, and turned back to Bonnie.

"Do you know what happened with his ex-girlfriend Katherine?" Bonnie asked my twin, her eyes no longer on me.

"Ummm, I don't really know... I think Katherine was just an old ex that hit him pretty hard." Elena shrugged.

"My turn. I know that Stefan and Damon both dated her and that's why they have issues." I spoke up, remembering the intense looks the brother's gave eachother every now and then.

"Yeah, they both dated her, only she chose Damon. And that drove Stefan mad, so he did horrible things to try and break them up. He manipulated Katherine. He filled her head with all these lies until finally it worked, and she turned against Damon." Bonnie explained, she too was leaning forward with a glint in her eyes.

"That sounds like one person's side of the story, meaning Damon's." Elena raised her eyebrows at Bonnie.

"I just wanted you to know." Bonnie shrugged.

"Anyway, his past relationships are none of my business." Elena continued, stubbornly shaking her head in denial.

"Unless he's a calculating, manipulative liar. That is your business." Bonnie countered, the room was heavy with a tense silence and I cleared my throat awkwardly.

"That's a little far, don't you think?" I looked at Bonnie and gave her a look.

"Yeah, Stefan is none of those things." Elena added.

"Yeah? How do you know?" Bonnie challenged, I opened my mouth to retort but no words came out. Bonnie was right: how did we know?

_**Salvatore Boarding House - Stefan's P.O.V**_

I was sat in my room writing in my journal, when Damon walked in wearing a black shirt and black trousers carrying a tie. "Do they still wear ties to this thing?" Damon asked.

"Why are you even going?" I sighed and closed my journal shut and looked at him.

"It's only fitting. We were at the very first one, remember?" Damon smirked and I rolled my eyes.

"I think it's better if we don't draw attention to ourselves." I advised him, trying not to anger him directly - he could hurt someone, and I'm sure Cassie was next on his hit list.

"So you should stay here. I'll see to it Elena has a good time, she's not a party girl like Cassie but I'm sure she knows how to have fun." I fought down the anger and went to the window sill and poured myself a tumbler of bourbon, Damon watched as I downed the drink. "My goodness, I've driven you to drink." He mocked.

"Can't seem to rid myself of you. What else am I supposed to do, besides go about living my life?" I asked him.

"Go about living my life. See, therein lies your eternal struggle. You're dead, dude. Get over it." Damon told me, he looped the black tie around his neck and tied it, then he held his hands out and grinned. "What do you think?" I sighed and walked out of the room, trying to ignore the feeling of fear for Elena and her twin.


	8. Family Ties Part 2

**Author's Note****:** **Thank you so much for the view count! I'd never thought I'd get so many for this story!**

**Cassie Gilbert - Family Ties Part 2**

_**The Gilbert House (Cassie's P.O.V) **_

Elena, Bonnie and I were almost ready. My twin had decided to wear the peach and floral dress and I had grudgingly allowed her to borrow my nude coloured heels, threatening her that if she so much as _muddied _them I promised her a slow and painful death. She had been quiet ever since. Bonnie was wearing a simple black dress with an elegant silver necklace, it was refreshing to see Bonnie and Elena out of jeans and into dresses. I was fixing my hair in the mirror when Elena's phone started to ring on the bed, my twin walked over and checked the contact number, she frowned and gave me a confused look before answering. "Hello?" Elena questioned. Bonnie and I were quiet as we heard frantic, panicked tones on the other end, "Hi, Mrs Lockwood." As soon as I heard the name I went back to pinning parts of my hair up: ever since Tyler and I had broken up Mrs Lockwood had begun to treat me like I was dirt on the bottom of her oh-so-posh shoes. "What do you mean?" Elena's reflection frowned at me in the mirror, "It is? Are you sure?" Elena paused as she listened to the hysterical woman. "Because I saw it. Let me check. Mmmhmm. Ok, I will find it and bring it. Ok. I'll see you there." Elena hung up and sighed as she threw the phone down on the bed, hard.

"What's wrong?" I asked my twin as she stormed out of the room and across the landing, she opened the door to Jeremy's bedroom in an uncharacteristically aggressive manner, Jeremy was sitting at his desk chair with his headphones in, the music up loud. Elena stalked up to him and hit the back of his head, he yelled as the headphones clattered to the floor.

"Ahh! God, what now?" My little brother moaned as he saw Elena, she scoffed and crossed her arms, I sensed her responsible side surfacing.

"The pocket watch. Where is it?" Elena snapped harshly.

"What watch?" Jeremy played dumb, his voice low and drawling.

"The one you stole from mum's box. Look, Mrs Lockwood just called me - freaking out! It was on the list and now she can't find it and she thinks she's the one who lost it." Elena glared at the teenager, Jeremy leaned back on his chair and slowly swiveled around in it.

"Maybe she did. Maybe Tyler took it." Jeremy shrugged, looking bored. I rolled my eyes and walked out of the dark room and into Elena's brightly lit bedroom. Bonnie was smoothing the black dress down as I walked back in.

"Relax, you look fine." I assured her and she smiled at me from the mirror.

"Thanks, Cassie." She grinned and I shrugged, Elena came back in looking a little sad and I frowned at her.

"You ok, twin?" I asked in an attempt to act like I cared.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just... It's just Jeremy, you know?" She signed, I nodded and tried to push down the sad and empty memories of our parents' death.

"Come on, help me pick what shoes to wear." I told her as I walked out of the room, grabbing her wrist and pulling her towards my room.

_**Salvatore Boarding House (Stefan's P.O.V)**_

"It's cool not growing old. I like being the eternal stud." Damon smirked as he admired himself in the full length mirror, I raised an eyebrow and raised my glass to him.

"Yes. Being a one hundred and fifty year old teenager has been the height of my happiness." I joked, tipping my glass to him.

"You cracked a funny, Stefan. I should have a drink to celebrate." Damon smirked and walked over to my desk for the bourbon, he stopped and I knew what he was looking at: it was the picture I had of Katherine Pierce in 1864. "1864. You and Katherine were the perfect couple." Damon sighed, the bitterness seeping through his tone. "It was hell watching you dance with her." He continued.

"My happiness was short lived. As you well know." I reminded him, remembering that night.

"I remember. I left the party early, I was waiting for her. The night you dropped her off, I was waiting just inside. You were such a gentleman, gave her a kiss on the cheek. And what she really wanted was... Oh, well. Here's to history repeating itself, huh?" Damon smiled and poured himself a glass, I watched as the dark liquid filled his glass, little did my brother know that I had spiked the bottle with vervain after I myself had poured a glass of it. Before the glass reached his lips he inhaled deeply, he smelt the herb and threw the glass down on the ground, it smashed and the liquid spilled out over the floor. "I admire your effort, Stefan. Pouring yourself a drink then spiking the bottle with vervain. I'm not some drunk sorority chick. You can't roofie me." Damon tutted annoyedly, I stayed silent as Damon reached for his neatly folded dinner jacket on the chair. "But I can't help but feel a little used. I thought we were having a moment. I have to go to the party angry. Who knows what I'll do?" Damon's eyes flashed as he said that and I knew he was talking about hurting Cassie or Caroline, or heaven forbid Elena.

_**The Lockwood Mansion (Cassie's P.O.V) **_

I felt a little sad as Bonnie and I followed Stefan and Elena up the marble steps to enter the Lockwood Mansion, I saw Mrs Lockwood and the Mayor and groaned quietly. "What's wrong?" Bonnie asked, hearing my groan. I slowed my steps and sighed, I pulled her away from the crowd and softly spoke to her in case The Lockwood's heard.

"Tyler's parents. His mum hates me since I dumped her precious son and his dad has never really liked me anyway. It doesn't bother me much, I don't see them often. But when I do..." I trailed off and made a face, Bonnie gave me a sympathetic look and touched my arm in comfort.

"It'll be fine, all you have to do is say hey and then walk on through, you can avoid them for the rest of the evening." Bonnie told me, I nodded and we joined the crowd of guests again.

"Hi, Mayor Lockwood." Elena greeted the woman warmly.

"Hey guys, come on in." Carol replied, her eyes glancing at Stefan.

"Thank you." Stefan said and he with Elena's arm on his, he led her inside and away into the glowing house.

"Hey Mrs Lockwood, Mayor Lockwood." I cleared my throat awkwardly and mustered up my nicest smile.

"Cassie... How nice to see you. Again." Carol smiled through tight lips, I glanced at the Mayor but he stared at me with cold, grey eyes. I swallowed and nodded, deciding to leave Bonnie in the doorway and find the nearest drink.

_**Later **_

I found Elena twenty minutes later staring down at our parent's wedding rings that were on display, she glanced up at me with shining eyes and I rubbed her arm in comfort. "Your parents?" I voice sounded behind us and we both jumped, I stepped back a little, giving Stefan a strange look as Elena nodded to him.

"There's a lot of history here." Elena smiled at him sadly, I gave Stefan a look and turned my twin to look at something else that was on display, the caption below it said 'The founding families in Mystic Falls welcomes you to the inaugural founder's council celebration.'

"Wow, look, it's the original guest registry." I pointed to the long list of elegant spidery handwriting, trying to lighten the mood. "Look at all these familiar names—Sheriff William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood." I frowned as my eyes read down the list and recognised impossibly familiar names. "Is that Damon Salvatore? And, Stefan Salvatore?" I frowned at Stefan as I read the text, Elena leaned forward and looked at the list more thoroughly, out of the corner of my eye I saw Stefan shift uncomfortably, he opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted.

"The original Salvatore brothers. Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually." Damon's voice sounded behind us, I sighed as I turned and saw Damon. My heart beat faster and the guilty feelings I had been forcing down all day blossomed within me, all of a sudden my mouth felt dry. I looked at Damon and he looked at me, we shared something between us in the stare, I suddenly switched my gaze to Caroline and looked away.

"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past." Stefan told Damon, his tone was almost threatening, I frowned but shook it off: remembering what Bonnie had told us earlier about the Salvatore brothers.

"It's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to hear stories about your family." Elena turned to Stefan, the sad look in her hazel eyes replaced with curiosity.

"There are worst ways to spend a Saturday night... None come to mind." I smirked, Stefan half smiled beside me and Damon chuckled, Caroline looked at Damon and then looked at me with a fearful look dawning on her face.

"Well, I'm bored." She said quickly, copying me as usual. "And Damon won't dance with me." She glared at her supposed 'boyfriend'.

"Mmmhmm." Damon nodded, glancing at the blonde.

"Could I just borrow your date?" She looked at Elena and gave her a pleading look.

"You wanna borrow Bonnie?" I asked incredulously, Elena snickered but Caroline did not look amused.

"No, I meant Stefan." The girl huffed.

"Oh, uh..." Elena's smile was gone and she glanced at Stefan in reluctance.

"I don't really dance." Stefan denied Caroline quickly, although I could see he was trying to be as polite as possible.

"Oh, sure he does. You should see him. Waltz, the jitterbug, the moonwalk. He does it all." He smirked his icy blue eyes at his younger brother in an almost cruel manner.

"You wouldn't mind, would you, Elena?" Caroline continued and looked at Elena, she began to shake her head but then paused and looked at Stefan.

"It's up to Stefan." She said, smiling at her date.

"Well sorry, but I'm not going to take no for an answer." Caroline smiled and took Stefan's hand, leading him away from the three of us and out to the dance floor.

"God have mercy on his soul." I sighed heavily and shook my head mockingly, my twin smiled, Carol Lockwood appeared in the doorway, smiling at Damon and Elena. She ignored me. Uppity bitch.

"Elena, honey, can I talk to you for a moment." Carol asked sweetly, Elena nodded.

"Umm sure, Mrs Lockwood." Elena nodded and stepped out, as she passed me I grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Don't leave me in here with Damon alone." I begged my twin as I whispered quietly into her ear, Elena forced a smile on her face and wrenched herself from my grip, leaving me alone with the one person I did not want to be alone with.

"Sorry." She mouthed before she was led away by Carol. I cleared my throat and shifted the weight to my other foot, looking around the room and pretending to be interested in the polished relics that dotted the room.

"I want to apologize to you for being such a world-class jerk the other night when I kissed you behind Caroline's back. There's no excuse. My therapist says I'm..." Damon stepped forward and brushed a loose lock of my wavy curls behind my ear delicately, his breath warmed my forehead and my heartbeat drummed in my chest again. "Acting out, trying to punish Stefan." He finished looking sad and guilty, I frowned as he moved back, waiting for my heartbeat to slow down and stop betraying me.

"You say you'd like to punish Stefan, for what?" I asked, my hands on my hips and an eyebrow raised.

"It's all in the past. I don't even want to bring it up. Let's just say that the men in the Salvatore family have been cursed with sibling rivalry. And it all started with the original Salvatore brothers."

"Original Salvatore brothers?" I echoed, suddenly intrigued in the story.

"The Salvatore name was practically royalty in this town. Until the war. There was a battle here—"

"The Battle of Willow Creek." I cut him off triumphantly, feeling that the one lesson where I was forced to listen to the teacher and not music, paid off.

"Right." Damon sounded impressed, a slight smile creeped onto his face and I couldn't help but smile back.

"I know, we talked about it in class. Confederate soldiers fired on a church with civilians inside." If I could impress him once, then I could do it again.

"What the history books left out was the people that were killed. They weren't there by accident. They were believed to be union sympathizers. So some of the founders on the confederacy side back then wanted them rounded up and burned alive. Stefan and Damon had someone they loved very much in that church. And when they went to rescue them, they were shot. Murdered in cold blood." As Damon described the story, I saw a little pain flash in his eyes, I frowned slightly but didn't mention it.

"Who was in the church that they wanted to save?" I asked quietly.

"A woman, I guess. Doesn't it always come down to the love of a woman?" Damon concluded sadly with a small shrug of his shoulders, I suddenly felt bad - as if all my thoughts about Damon had been wrong... but then Bonnie's story echoed around my head and I felt all sympathy wash away with my small smile.

"Look, I'm sorry that you and Stefan have this thing between you, but I can't get in the middle of it, Damon, and I'm definitely not gonna let Elena in the middle of it either. I just... I hope you two can work it out." I walked over and kissed him lightly on the cheek and stepped back, his eyes went darker and he stared at me for a moment before answering.

"I hope so too." He said quietly, touching the part on his cheek where I had kissed him, there was nothing else going through my head except the desire to kiss him again, like last night. The spark in my mind hadn't dulled, and being around him was so... intoxicating. I looked up again to see he had stepped closer, I edged closer to him too until our lips were almost touching, his blue eyes bored into mine and I found that even if I wanted to, I couldn't look away. I parted my lips slightly and we moved closer still, almost touching. I could feel his warm breath tickle me and I could smell his alluring aroma, we were so close - but so far from kissing. Footsteps sounded and they entered the room, I snapped out of it and jumped back, shivering slightly, I looked up and saw Elena looking in her bag for something.

"Sorry I took so long, Mrs Lockwood wanted that damn pocket watch again, I gave it back to Jer, he seemed so upset... earlier. Are you ok, Cassie?" My twin looked at me with a worried expression, I was flushed red and looking slightly flustered. A rarity for me. I cleared my throat and fixed my hair slightly, nodding to my twin and giving a - what I hoped - an assuring smile.

"Yeah, I'm uhh fine, thanks... I'm gonna go find Bonnie, I'll catch up with you guys later." I gave one last smile and exited the room quickly. I found Bonnie in a large dining room with about a hundred candles lit brightly, they were flickering strongly and Bonnie was stood admist it all in awe. "Hey, Bon, this room is great, huh?" I smiled at her, feeling the red vanish from my face. Bonnie's head snapped to me, she had a wide eyed look about her but she grinned at me all the same.

"Yeah, these candles are something aren't they?" Bonnie gestured to the soft golden glow of the tall lights, the dreamy expression remained on her face.

"Yeah... I'm gonna go see how Elena's doing." I finished awkwardly and made my way to the gardens, as I was exiting through the french windows I saw my mirror image come storming over a hurt look plastered on her face, I frowned as she past me and looked over to where she had come from. Stefan was stood there but he wasn't staring after Elena like expected, he was sharing a stony look with his brother, Damon. A cold feeling settled in me and I backed up and followed my twin. "Elena, hold up!" I called after her, she ran straight into Bonnie and practically enveloped her best friend in a bear hug.

**_Later _**

"This is my fault. I planted doubt. I'm a doubt planter." Bonnie moaned, the three of us were sat in the back room of the Mansion, our heels kicked off and bowls of ice cream in our laps.

"It's not your fault. I just—I feel terrible because I said that I wouldn't get in the middle of it, and then that's exactly what I did. I got all snotty." Elena sighed, I patted her on the back in comfort.

"It's ok, Elena. It's not like the relationship is over, you and Stefan will work it out. I'm sure of it." I tried, she edged a smile and nodded.

"When was the last time we kicked off our shoes and ate ice cream?" Elena laughed, stretching her toes out and pointing her spoon at the ice cream for emphasis, I laughed along with her, then I remembered and my smile dropped.

"It was a week after mum and dad died, I'd just broken up with Tyler and you found me on the porch watching Tyler's car drive off into the sunset... without me." I sighed sadly and pulled a face.

"You're better without him, Cas." Bonnie assured me, I grinned at the girl.

"Gee, thanks Bon." I murmured quietly, I touched my lips and was reminded of last night, and what would have happened to me and Damon if Elena hadn't decided to walk through at the wrong time. "Right," I said, putting down the bowl and looking at the two girls, "No more pouting, I'm gonna get up, put my shoes on and go fix my face in the powder room." I told them, a steely expression on my face which I hoped looked like I was determined, Elena smiled up at me in admiration and put her bowl down and grabbed her shoes.

"I'll come with you."

Elena and I strode into the powder room, Caroline was in there. I smiled thinly at her and Elena gave her a warm smile. "Hey." She said.

"Hey. So how are things with Stefan?" She asked my sister, ignoring me completely. I shrugged at the petty girl and sorted out my hair and lip gloss.

"Great. Just great." Elena replied, I looked at her out of the corner of my eye and narrowed them at her in the mirror's reflection: one good thing about having a twin - you can always tell when the others one's lying.

"Really? Well, my radar must be off, because I was getting all sorts of vibes..." Caroline shrugged in a failed attempt at nonchalance and continued to apply some mascara. I glared at a spot on the blonde girl's neck and then realised I was looking at an abnormally darker mark on her neck compared to her paler skin.

"What is that?" Elena asked the girl, I nodded and crossed my arms, glad I wasn't the only one who saw it.

"Hmm?" Caroline looked up from her makeup application, I moved forward and tried to lift up the scarf that was concealing the rest of her neck, but her hand slapped it away. "Don't!" She cried out, fear edging into her voice. Elena and I exchanged a look and we both lifted up the scarf, revealing an angry red and purple bite mark. I gasped and dropped the scarf, Caroline needn't have bothered to push me away because I was already jumping back in fear for the girl.

"Oh God, Caroline, what happened?" I asked the girl, giving her a concerned look.

"Nothing, ok?!" Caroline denied quickly, I looked at her in the mirror but her eyes wouldn't meet mine.

"That is not nothing! Did somebody hurt you?" Elena pressed.

"No. Ok... Nothing. It's just... My mum would kill me." Caroline forced out a shaky laugh, but I wasn't buying it, I yanked her shawl down and it showed another brutal bite mark on her back, I gasped again and dropped the shawl. Leaving Elena to deal with Caroline, I stormed out looking straight for...

Damon was stood by the punchbowl, he smirked at me as I approached but I shoved him. Hard. "There is something seriously wrong with you. You stay away from Caroline or I will go straight to her mother, the sheriff. You got it? Stay away from her." I warned, snapping at him before stalking away, heading to the front of the house where there was a taxi service.

I inquired about the taxis and they said the next taxi was gonna come in an hour, so I was aimlessly wandering around the grounds. I saw Caroline staring into space, the fountain lit up behind her showing bright lights and playing soft jazz music. "Caroline? There you are." I sighed in relief, "There's a taxi which is gonna pick me upon an hour, do you need a lift?" When Caroline stayed silent I felt fear slither up my spine like a taunting snake waiting to latch on to me. "Caroline?" I asked, the sigh of relief was long gone now.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Caroline replied, she was staring into space. Her blue eyes unblinking and wide, I frowned and took a small step closer to her.

"What happened?" I asked her, fighting the fear from my voice; this girl, this annoying, neurotic girl who would give anything to be able to be me was scaring the hell out of me. I didn't like it.

"I'm fine." Caroline repeated, more hard this time. I narrowed my eyes: no one would ever speak to me like that, this girl had nerve. I opened my mouth to bite out a venomous retort when I suddenly noticed that Caroline was shaking.

"No you're not. You're shaking." I pointed out, "Caroline what-."

"I'm fine!" The girl almost snapped, it was as if she was trying to convince herself as well as me. Tears streamed from her eyes and I silently cringed a little: I hated it when people cried around me.

"Caroline, come here." I tried to sound comforting and lightly put my arms around her, the girl threw her arms around me and cried harder I forced a smile on my face and rubbed her back soothingly. I saw Elena walking over with Stefan, I untangled myself from Caroline and gave my twin a look, "She's all yours." I told her, I nodded to Stefan and walked back to the front of the house for that taxi home.


End file.
